


Give 'Em Hell, Kid

by grapeflavoredorange



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, CAT BUS, Canon-Typical Violence, EVERYBODY stop being mean to ryuji challenge, Gen, Kinda, Let Everyone Say Fuck, Let Sakamoto Ryuji Say Fuck, Like lots of it, M/M, Mementos (Persona 5), Pre-Canon, Slow Burn, Swearing, Underage Smoking, Violence, akira hates cops, akira is Angry, akira's parents are assholes but they mean well, au where akira is actually a delinquent problem child, edgy akira au, let akira say fuck, morgana stop being mean to ryuji challenge, not graphic but i tagged it anyways, p5r retelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 47,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25455190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapeflavoredorange/pseuds/grapeflavoredorange
Summary: Akira had always been a "problem child".or, persona 5 except akira is actually a delinquent problem child and is a lot more angry at everything that happens to him
Relationships: Kurusu Akira & Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira & Sakura Sojiro, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Morgana & Persona 5 Protagonist, Morgana & Sakamoto Ryuji, Morgana & Takamaki Ann, Persona 5 Protagnost & Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji, to be added
Comments: 99
Kudos: 281





	1. Damn Brat, I'll Sue

**Author's Note:**

> hello!
> 
> this is an idea i've had for quite some time, and i'm happy to finally get started on it! i know i have a bunch of unfinished stuff, but so does every other writer, and i actually have a concrete idea of what i want to do here. more context for this au will be in the end notes. i hope you enjoy!

“What did he do this time?”

  
  


News travels fast when there’s not many places for it to go.

  
  


Nami and Hideki Kurusu looked at the policeman with exasperated faces. Next to him stood their son; a lanky teenage boy with scruffy black hair and glasses, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. The policeman sighed and glared at the boy, who narrowed his eyes back at him. “Caught him in another fight. This time with some kids from his school,” the policeman told them. The boy next to them just scoffed and kicked the ground. “They started it,” he grumbled. Flustered, his mother grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside. “Thank you for bringing him home,” she said to the policeman, who nodded and turned around to leave. “Get inside,” she hissed. “We have a lot to discuss, Akira.”

  
  


Nami dragged him to the kitchen table and directed her son to sit down. “Now, explain yourself,” she said. “You got in another fight, didn’t you?” Akira scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I said, it wasn’t my fault. They started it.” His father shook his head. “You probably provoked them in some way, didn’t you?” he spat. Akira glared at him. “I didn’t do shit. I was on my way home from school and some dipshits attacked me and I fought back. Some asshole called the cops, and now I’m here.” He crossed his arms and looked directly into his parents’ eyes, scowling. His mother narrowed her eyes at him, getting angrier by the second. “I thought I told you not to swear in this house.” Akira just rolled his eyes again and stood up, turned around, and started towards the stairs. “I know what you’re gonna say next,” he said. “Go upstairs, you’re grounded, you’re tired of the cops bringing me home, everyone in this town hates us because of me. I know.” Before his parents could say anything else, he was up the stairs and down the hall.

☁ ☁ ☁

Akira had been a “problem child” for as long as he could remember.

He had never been able to make many friends in the small town where he lived, his grades were less than satisfactory, and he often got into fights. He was the definition of a rebel child; he carried a knife, sometimes smoked cigarettes, was quick to anger, and his name was well known by the police department. His parents were ostracized by the rest of the townspeople, and they always blamed their son for every problem they had. He was used to it, though, and so were they. It wasn’t like Akira wanted to be a “problem child”, but he couldn’t help it- he was used to being kicked around and spit on, so why not try to fight back if he had nothing to lose? 

Akira’s parents had never held very high expectations for him. When he was in middle school, it was just “bring home passing grades”, which turned into “don’t get suspended” which turned into “come home without the police”. “Bring home passing grades”-- for what? Akira didn’t have any solid goals for the future, and surely his parents didn’t expect him to. By age fifteen, he was sure he’d spend his life in and out of jail, and Akira was sure that that was what his parents thought, too. They seemed to have given up on trying to make him a functioning member of society and were now waiting for him to end up in juvie.  _ It would save them from the burden of taking care of me, anyways. _

Akira sighed and turned over in bed. It really wasn’t his fault that he got in that fight. He was only on his way home from school, he really didn’t do anything to provoke those guys! Okay, maybe he had called one of them an asshole earlier that day, but it was only because he had witnessed them harassing a girl at school! He had honestly done the right thing! At least, he hoped he did…

He wasn’t stupid. He knew he had done the right thing. His parents and the cops were the stupid ones. They just didn’t know how to help people. He’d show them. One day he’d do something that would make them all realize that he wasn’t just a delinquent with anger issues and bad grades and what-else-have-you. Akira stretched, turning over in bed to look at his phone for the time. Almost midnight, and he had school tomorrow.  _ Well, no wonder they were so annoyed,  _ he thought, closing his eyes and sighing.  _ Then again, they always are. _

☁ ☁ ☁

Days passed, and although Akira was used to his schedule after hearing the words “you’re grounded”, he still didn’t like it. He could tell that his parents were starting to regret grounding him though, because they seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable every second he was in the same room as them. Finally, less than a week after the incident, Akira’s mother told him that his grounding was over when he came home from school, and then ignored him when he tried to ask why. He shrugged her off and went back outside, pulling out a lighter. It wasn’t like he didn’t know the answer. 

Akira’s after-school walks were normally as long as he could make them before it got too dark to stay out. Now that it was nearing the end of March, there was more daylight- more time to be away from home. Akira chose the back roads this time, shivering at the chilly spring air. It was colder than usual, and as the sky grew darker, Akira wondered how long he had been out for. The thought quickly left his mind, however, at what sounded like arguing coming from far away. Curious, Akira followed the noise, his interest piqued. 

“Just get in the car!

_ Hm? What’s- _

“Stop it!”

That didn’t sound good. Akira sped up.

“How dare you cross me!”

_ What are they talking about? _

“Stop it! Let me go!”

Akira started running, and slowed down when he could start to see the scene more clearly. A drunk, bald man with a struggling woman, standing in front of a car. They were obviously arguing about something, and Akira knew he should probably stay out of it, but he didn’t like what he heard, and he couldn’t just ignore it…

“Hey!” he yelled, rushing forward and grabbing the man by the shoulder, causing him to spin around. “You’re hurting her!” The drunk man stumbled for a moment, found his footing, then looked up, glaring at Akira, who simply scowled back at him.

“This ain’t a show. Get lost, kid.”

Akira shook his head. “No way, asshole. She obviously wants you to leave her alone.” The furious man jabbed him in the chest, then stumbled backwards, falling over. He looked up at Akira, holding his hand over his bleeding forehead. “What the hell did you do that for?” he shouted. Akira crossed his arms and glared back at him. “I didn’t do shit. You fell on your own.” he retorted. The man steadied himself and got back up on his feet, glowering at Akira and the scared woman behind him. “Think you’re some kind of tough white knight for saving her?” he spat. “You damn brat… I’ll sue!” Akira just continued glaring at him, saying nothing. In the distance, he could hear police sirens coming closer to where they stood. It didn’t matter to him.  _ Let the police come,  _ he thought.  _ It’ll be the same as always. _

☁ ☁ ☁

It was not the same as always. 

Akira sat in the back of his parents’ car on the way back home from the police station, arms crossed and scowling. The car was excruciatingly uncomfortable, a heavy silence in the air. Akira didn’t want to disturb it, he knew what his parents would say. “We can talk about this when we get back home”, “We’re not mad, just disappointed”, the usual bullshit. He knew they were lying. He knew that they were too tired of him to be disappointed. In fact, they were probably wishing for him to do something worse so he would be sent away and they would finally be rid of him. He was sure of it.

When they finally reached home, Akira’s parents said nothing to him until the front door closed behind them and he sat down at the kitchen table where they usually scolded him. His parents finished hanging up their coats, then turned around to look at him, scowling. It was silent, the air filled with tension, before his mother finally spoke. “Explain yourself.”

Akira shook his head. “The cops should have told you everything,” he grumbled. “I saw some drunk dude harassing a lady, I tried to stop him, he pushed me and fell down.” He looked at the table, then up at his parents, whose angry faces only hardened. “How is that different from anything else I’ve done?” His parents’ faces turned from angry to indignant. “How- What do you mean, ‘how’?!” his mother spluttered. “The victim said he was going to sue! Do you realize what that means?!” Akira nodded. “Yeah, so? He was just some random asshole. It won’t hold any weight.” His parents looked at each other and then back at Akira, clearly at a loss for words. “Do you…” his father started, but stopped himself, clearly too shocked to continue. “Nevermind. Go upstairs. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow.” 

☁ ☁ ☁

The following days were harsh.

Akira was woken up the next day by his disgruntled mother telling him that he wouldn’t be going to school for a while, and that he was in a lot more trouble than he thought. Akira said nothing and just went back to sleep. It didn’t matter to him. The coming days would be filled with lots of talking, arguing, and maybe even a court trial, but Akira didn’t care. His parents were mad at him, the cops were mad at him, he was in “more trouble than he had ever been in”. How was that any different from normal?

The day of the court trial, Akira didn’t feel nervous at all. In fact, he felt slightly excited. Nothing this interesting had ever happened to him before, other than the time he punched a kid in seventh grade for throwing rocks at a birds’ nest. However, that didn’t get him in so much trouble that he’d need to prove his innocence in court. Akira’s mother poked her head into his bedroom before leaving, clearing her throat. Akira turned around and looked at her, and she already seemed annoyed. “We’re leaving soon,” she reminded him. He nodded. “I’m aware,” he replied coldly. She just frowned at him. “You can’t go to a trial and expect them to feel any sympathy for you dressed like that,” she said, gesturing at him. “At least try to look innocent.” Before he could say anything else, she turned and left. Akira groaned and stood up, glaring at the door.  _ Dress nicely? I didn’t think she actually wanted me to be innocent,  _ he thought, opening his closet and turning on the light. Did he even have anything nice? Several hoodies, his winter coat, old clothes he kept forgetting to get rid of… 

A blazer, plain and simple. Right, that would do. Akira didn’t even remember owning it, it was probably something his father made him wear to some important event, and it must have been recently, because it fit him just fine. Some old dress shoes, too… Fine. Akira sighed and shoved his phone into his back pocket, turned off the light, and left his room, ready to fight a battle he knew he would lose.

  
  


_ “The verdict: One year of probation for the defendant, Akira Kurusu.” _

“You’ll be in Tokyo in less than a day. Get packing.” 

Akira didn’t know how his parents were able to find lodging for him so quickly after the verdict had been declared, but that didn’t matter. He was getting out of there.

Sure, he wasn’t exactly happy at what had happened. He was arrested and officially a criminal. He was being sent away as a punishment. Akira felt himself becoming less and less excited at the prospect of leaving his small hometown the more he thought about it. Of course, no one in Tokyo would know what he did. He could start fresh and maybe even make friends if he played his cards right. But what if he failed? People told him that he had a pretty mean resting bitch face, and that he looked intimidating, but maybe that would change once he was in a new place?  _ No, _ he thought as he sorted through his desk to look for anything he might need to bring.  _ Somebody’s gonna find out eventually. _ A lighter, a hefty lockpick he made back in middle school, his phone charger… All essentials. After Akira finished packing, he got dressed quickly and went to bed. The sooner he was out of there, the better.

His parents said nothing to him on the car ride to the train station, and Akira didn’t care. When they reached the station, they walked to the platform with him, and just as Akira was about to step on, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw it was his father, who pressed a paper bag into his hands. “Don’t open that until you’re on the train, got it?” he asked. Surprised, Akira said nothing and nodded, then half-heartedly waved goodbye to his parents before turning around and stepping on the train, dragging his suitcase along and leaving his disappointed parents behind him.

☁ ☁ ☁

Only when he was seated and the train started moving did Akira finally open the paper bag. Inside were three things; an envelope, ten thousand eight hundred yen, and a pack of cigarettes. Akira snorted lightly at the sight of them. Was this a joke? Surely his parents wouldn’t have sent him off  _ encouraging  _ his bad behavior-- although it would be cruel of them to not give him at least  _ something  _ to remember them by. Still, why  _ this? _ Curious, he opened the envelope and read the paper inside. Maybe they actually did care about him a little bit after all.

_ Akira, _

_ To say we are disappointed in you would be an understatement. _

_ We knew for a very long time that you would eventually be in enough trouble to be arrested. However, that didn’t prepare us for the actual day it would happen. _

_ Although we are upset, we could never say we hated you or regretted having you. You have become quite a handful in the past few years, but we never thought it would be something we couldn’t handle.  _

_ A friend of ours named Sojiro Sakura will be your caretaker while you’re in Tokyo. Use the money well. The directions to his house are below: _

_ Your parents, _

_ Kurusu Hideki & Kurusu Nami _

Akira stared at the paper, at a loss for words. He read it again, and again, and again. His parents actually meant well? He didn’t believe it. This had to be a joke. They were probably ecstatic right now, crying of happiness that their delinquent son was no longer a burden on them. Akira shook his head and put the paper back in the envelope, setting the paper bag aside and staring out the window. 

The loud “kuh-lack” of the train was all Akira could hear. It was all he could focus on. That, plus the gentle voice of the woman on the loudspeaker. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today.”

That letter just  _ had  _ to be a joke. It had to be.

“We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly.”

_ Was I really staring at the letter for that long? _

“This is the last stop for this line.”

_ I didn’t do anything wrong, I know I didn’t. _

“Please transfer here for all subway lines.”

_ I’m innocent. I know I am. _

“The doors to your left will open.”


	2. Be Your Best

4/9/16

Akira felt slightly lightheaded as he stepped off the train and onto the platform. 

The underground walkway was confusing, cluttered, and full of people. All of them seemed to know exactly where they were going.  _ Of course they do, they’ve probably lived here all their lives.  _ Akira couldn’t even find the proper ticket gate he needed to go to.

When he eventually found his way out of the horrible maze that was the Shibuya Underground walkway, Akira felt himself be honestly taken aback at the sight of the Shibuya Crossing.  _ So many people.  _ Akira’s small hometown out in the country felt like a distant memory now, and although he felt like an idiot standing in the dead center of the station square, he couldn’t stop staring at the sight in front of him. He was snapped out of his trance, however, by the sound of a jingle coming from his phone. Curious, he looked down at it, wondering if it was possibly his phone’s GPS reminding him where he needed to go, but instead Akira was greeted with something he had never seen before. It looked like an app, but it had the weirdest design, and nothing happened when he pressed it.  _ What the hell… When did I download this? I’ve been holding my phone this whole time… _

_ It doesn’t matter. I’ll just figure it out when I eventually get to Sakura’s house… _

Akira took a few steps forward, suddenly feeling lightheaded. “What the-” he started, looking around, but stopped at what he was seeing. 

The world had slowed to a complete stop.

The people around him were standing completely still as if frozen in place, all the chatter had died out, and Akira seemed to be the only one who noticed. Before he could say anything however, a flash of movement from the corner of his eye caught him, and Akira spun around to look at it. He was greeted with the sight of something truly bizarre.

A sudden burst of blue flames, with what looked like chains flying around them. It took a fuzzy shape of what seemed to be a person, but Akira was too far away to figure it out. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, and for a second he swore he could see a face in the flames, but as soon as he noticed it and tried to get a better look, it was gone, and the world around him suddenly turned back to normal. Startled, Akira quickly turned around in place, at a complete loss for words at what he had just witnessed.  _ What the hell… I had to have imagined that… There’s no way that was real. No fucking way. _

☁ ☁ ☁

It took him some time, but Akira eventually made it to the area he needed to be in. Yongen-Jaya was cramped and confusing, and he spent nearly ten minutes wandering around confusedly, getting anxious looks from the townspeople as he passed them by. Eventually, he finally asked the angry-looking police officer standing at a corner for directions. When Akira reached what should have been the Sakura residence, no one answered the door, and the mailman standing near the house told him that he should go to find a cafe called Leblanc. Akira scoffed and started back down the road, getting more and more sick of the sound of his suitcase dragging on the ground by the second.

It was 4:35 when Akira finally found the tiny cafe that he was told to go to. He was late.  _ None of this would have happened if my parents just told me to go to this cafe instead,  _ he thought as he pushed open the door. The TV was loud, and two elderly customers sat at a booth across from the counter. A man with greying hair and glasses who Akira guessed was the manager sat at the counter doing a crossword puzzle, not paying attention to the customers or the TV. “Uh, excuse me?” Akira asked, trying his hardest to sound polite. “Is uh, Is Sakura-san here?” The man at the counter looked up, and Akira mentally kicked himself for his bad attempts at manners. “Yeah, that’s me,” the man said, looking Akira up and down. “Oh, right. They did tell me that was today.” 

At those words, the elderly couple sitting at the table suddenly stood up and began to leave. “We’ll be going now, the bill’s on the table.” With that, they left, leaving Akira and Sakura in an uncomfortable silence. “So, you’re the guy,” he said. “I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you’re the one, huh?” Akira nodded, biting back a response.  _ I’m not getting kicked out on the first day.  _ “Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other, and…” the man started, but stopped when he saw Akira’s face. “Well, not that it matters. Follow me.” He turned around and started walking towards the back, and Akira followed, wondering why this man bothered to take him in at all.

At the top of the stairs was a large, cluttered area that looked like it hadn’t been touched in a long time. “This is your room,” Sakura said when Akira finished dragging his suitcase up the stairs. “I’ll give you sheets for your bed, at least.” The room was dusty and covered in cobwebs. “When was the last time you went up here?” Akira asked, looking at Sojiro. The man shrugged. “Doesn’t matter,” he grumbled. “It’s up to you to clean the rest. That’ll make things easier on me” Akira raised his eyebrows and blinked. “Excuse me?” 

Sojiro took a drag on his cigarette and turned around, starting down the stairs. “You wanna make me believe you’re turning over a new leaf? Start by living less like a slob.” With that, he was gone, and Akira was alone in the dusty attic.  _ Guess I should start with that ladder… _

Akira didn’t notice how long he had been cleaning until he finally flopped down on the bed, sweaty and exhausted. All the dust had made his throat dry, and although he still had the cluttered shelf and desk to clean off, he couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed again. Bored, he picked up his phone, wondering what time it was and if his parents had called or texted him at all since leaving. It was already 10pm, and they hadn’t.  _ Of course. _

He set his phone back down, sighing. It wasn’t like he cared about if his parents contacted him or not, but it’d be nice to know that they at least cared about whether or not he arrived in Shibuya safely.  _ They probably don’t,  _ Akira thought bitterly.  _ They’d probably cry tears of joy if they found out that I’d died in a subway accident or something.  _ He turned over and glanced at the paper bag that he’d haphazardly tossed onto the table when he arrived. The paper bag with the letter and the money and his father’s “parting gift”. Akira really wanted to believe that his parents cared about him somewhat, but at the same time, he knew it probably wasn’t true. He sighed.  _ I’m thinking way too much into this,  _ he thought.  _ I should get to bed…  _ Sojiro was taking him to visit his new school the next day. If Akira stayed up too late, he’d oversleep, and he’d never hear the end of it.

☁ ☁ ☁

Akira woke up early the next day to the sound of Sojiro’s voice coming from the stairs. “Are you awake? You’d better be, we’re heading for Shujin now.” He sat up in bed and yawned. Akira couldn’t blame Sojiro for disliking him already; he was definitely warned of the “scruffy delinquent” he’d be taking in. He sighed and started getting dressed. His new school’s uniform would do, in fact it was probably expected of him. Stuffing his phone into his pocket, Akira shuffled down the stairs and headed outside, already waiting for the day to be over.

The meeting with the school’s principal and his homeroom teacher went by quicker than Akira expected, and before he knew it, he was back in the car with Sojiro. “So, what did you think?” he asked, trying to break the awkward silence. “About the school, I mean.” Akira shifted awkwardly in his seat, staring out the window at the unmoving traffic. “I think I’ll scrape by.”

Sojiro scoffed. “I could save us all a little time and just kick you out if that’s gonna be your attitude,” he grunted. Akira just rolled his eyes, hearing Sojiro sigh. “What a troublesome kid I’ve taken in… a real headache waiting to happen.” Akira didn’t say anything. The car stayed silent as the traffic moved slowly, little by little, and Akira felt like he was dying of boredom. His parents hadn’t called or texted him at all (not that he cared), the radio sounded like white noise to him, and there was no way Sojiro was going to let him have one of his cigarettes. There was nothing he could do except wait.

When they eventually got back to the cafe, Sojiro sent Akira straight to the attic, complaining under his breath about how he hadn’t even been able to open the cafe that day. Akira wanted very badly to ask him how he was still open if he was such a dick, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. Sojiro left, telling Akira that he’d better go to bed early if he wanted to make it to school on time the next day, and just like that, he was alone again. Akira plugged in his phone (not that he needed to, he’d barely used it that day), got changed, and opened the window over his bed, breathing in the fresh air from outside. It was a welcome shift from the dusty air of the attic, and after a while, Akira found that he could ignore the paper bag on the shelf no longer. Sighing, he turned around and opened it, putting the money in his school bag, and hesitantly lit one of his father’s cigarettes, staring out the window again. 

Akira didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He missed home. He was a “scruffy delinquent” living in an attic, but he still felt slightly homesick. He wasn’t used to being treated like a nuisance; his parents acted mostly exasperated and slightly resentful towards him sometimes, but he couldn’t remember the last time they talked to him like Sojiro had that day.  _ “You got expelled from your old school, so why not just drop out? You’ll be treated like a nuisance everywhere you go…”  _ Akira shook his head and sighed, putting out the cigarette on the window sill.  _ Better to just brush my teeth and go to bed now instead of overthinking.  _

When the lights were out, the window was shut, and Akira’s alarms for the next day were set, he couldn’t help but feel lonely as he turned over in bed, trying to fall asleep. It seemed like hardened “bad kids” got lonely, and Akira felt truly helpless as he felt unconsciousness taking over him. It was only a year. Maybe his parents would be happy to see him when this was all over. Maybe…

☁ ☁ ☁

A gloomy, cold room.

The sound of clanking, jingling metal.

His hands felt weighed down by something-- heavy chains? Akira sat up in bed, or what seemed to be one, to find himself no longer in the dusty attic of Leblanc. Instead, he found himself to be in a prison cell, heavy chains shackled to his wrists, and something weighing down his leg-- a ball and chain? What was this, a horror movie?

Akira sat up, rubbing his eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. The shackles on his wrists  _ hurt,  _ it felt too real to be a dream-- just where  _ was  _ he?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of giggling coming from outside the cell. Akira looked up, confused, only to be greeted with a set of twin girls, each with white hair and an eyepatch over one of their strange yellow eyes. They were both dressed like old-fashioned prison wardens, and when Akira stood up to get a better look at them, they stepped aside, to reveal more of the strange place Akira had found himself in. In the center of the room stood a desk, with an old-looking lamp and a stack of papers on top of it. Sitting in the chair behind it was a man who Akira could only describe as horrifying. With wide, unblinking eyes, a long nose, and an eerily wide smile, he extended his hand as Akira dragged himself forward to grab hold on the rusty bars in front of him.

“Trickster… Welcome to my Velvet Room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY a new chapter. sorry it took me so long to update, playing p5r and taking notes as i go takes a surprisingly long amount of time, believe it or not. however, i'm doing it so i can write this as well and accurate as possible-- i know it really doesn't matter but if i got something like a date or certain dialogue wrong i'd never forgive myself. if you haven't noticed, i'm hoping to explore akira's relationship with his parents a little more, because it's hardly mentioned in the game and i find it pretty interesting. anyways, i hope to be able to update soon, because i'm really excited to write Bad Boy Akira meeting ryuji and experiencing the metaverse for the first time. anyways, i hope you enjoyed, and if you did, please leave comments/kudos! it means a lot knowing that people like my work!


	3. Off To A Good Start

Akira had  _ no  _ clue what was going on. 

“Velvet room?! What is this? Where am I?! And who the fuck are you?!” 

The unsettling long-nosed man just chuckled. He had a low, gravelly voice and a wide smile that took up half his face. One of the twins standing in front of the cell smacked her baton against the bars and glared up at Akira, who jumped slightly. “You’re in the presence of our master, Inmate!” she shouted. “Show some respect!”

The long-nosed man laughed again, sending chills down Akira’s spine. “My name is Igor,” he said. “This is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have signed a contract may enter this room.” The twins continued glaring up at Akira, who was getting more and more confused by the second. He opened his mouth to argue, but the man named Igor continued, his horrible smile not breaking once. “I have summoned you here tonight for a specific reason,” he said. “There are matters of grave importance we must discuss here. Matters that have great bearing on your life.”

Akira tightened his grip on the bars in front of him, gritting his teeth and scowling. “My life?!” he blurted out. “What the hell do you mean? Who are you people?!” The man did not answer. Instead, he continued, glancing around the room. “Still, I find this to be quite a surprise… Akira Kurusu.”

Akira gasped, and shook the bars angrily. “How do you know my name?!” he shouted. “What’s going on here?! Who are you?!” He truly had no idea what was going on or how he ended up in such a terrifying place with a man that looked like he was pulled straight out of a horror movie, and he wanted answers. However, the man (Igor, was his name?) simply shook his head and continued. “The form the Velvet Room takes is a mirror of your own heart. To think it would appear as a prison…” Akira couldn’t believe it.  _ This is a prison?! _

Igor continued. “It seems you truly are a prisoner… of fate. I can say without a doubt that utter ruin will be visiting you in the near future.” He continued smiling eerily at Akira, who felt chills running over his skin. “Are you serious?! Am I going to die?!” he yelled, shaking the bars again, which prompted one of the twins to smack the bars with her baton again. “Shut up! Know your damn place, Inmate!” she snapped. Akira didn’t budge. “Hang on, we’re not done here! What do you want me to do?!” Igor simply chuckled again. “You must  _ fight.  _ You must rehabilitate yourself towards freedom.” Akira could feel the world around him starting to fade, he must have been waking up in the real world, but he wasn’t done here-- he didn’t know who these freaky people were or how he got there! “Wait a minute, hold on!” he yelled, shaking the bars again and hearing the loud jangling of the chains around him. “I don’t understand what you’re saying!” However, no matter how loud he shouted, Igor and the twins didn’t answer him. All Akira could do was watch as the prison continued fading away and he was once again plunged into darkness.

  
  


☁ ☁ ☁

Akira jolted awake the next morning, his wrists feeling heavy and drenched in cold sweat. Immediately upon waking up, he thought about his dream, wondering where it could have come from.  _ Ruin? Rehabilitation? What does it mean?  _ Akira couldn’t get the long-nosed man’s words out of his head as he got ready for school, and he was so distracted that he didn’t even notice that Sojiro was calling him from downstairs. 

“Hey! Kid! Get down, you’re gonna be late!”

Pushing the strange dream to the back of his mind, Akira started down the stairs and was about to leave when Sojiro stopped him. “Hang on,” he said, gesturing at the counter. “Eat some breakfast first, at least.” Akira glanced at the counter, seeing that Sojiro was pointing at a bowl of curry and a glass of milk. He looked up at the expectant man, confused. “Curry for breakfast?” he asked. Sojiro nodded. “Don’t complain. You should be grateful I’m feeding you at all.” Akira huffed and begrudgingly accepted the offer. The curry was good, but spicier than Akira expected. Realizing he should probably not be an asshole to the man feeding him, he muttered some quick words of thanks and stood up, ready to leave. “Hey, don’t get lost on your way to school,” Sojiro called from the counter. “Don’t be late, country boy.” Akira scowled, closed the door behind him, and set off, the curry’s taste still strong in his mouth.

It took him some time, but Akira finally found the right ticket gates to the school. When he emerged from the underground, it was raining.  _ Just my shitty luck,  _ he thought as he stood under a shop awning.  _ First a weird asshole in my dream, and now it rains on my first day of school…  _

The rain still wasn’t letting up. Akira could see students wearing the same uniform running past, and he felt like he was going to be late if he waited any longer. Hoping to kill time a little quicker, Akira pulled out his phone and checked the time. He had a few minutes to spare. Another student walked past, but this time they stopped next to him under the awning. Akira looked up to see who it could be, and was greeted with the sight of a girl taking her hood off to reveal long, thick white-blonde hair done up in twintails, and platinum blue eyes. The girl looked up at him, a slight smile on her face, then looked back at the road, clearly wanting to be left alone. 

A few minutes later, a car drove up and stopped in front of them. A window was rolled down, and a man with a mop of black hair and a very rectangular-looking face looked up at them, smiling. “Hey, you need a ride?” he asked. “You’re gonna be late.” The girl next to Akira smiled back at him and stepped forward. “Oh, sure, thank you.” she breathed, getting into the car. The man in the driver’s seat looked slightly pleased with himself, then glanced up at Akira, who scowled back at him. “Do  _ you  _ need a lift too?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Akira shook his head, which prompted the driver to take off, and Akira noticed an uncomfortable look growing on the girl’s face. 

“Damn it! Screw that pervy teacher!”

Akira heard another voice coming from behind him, and he looked up to see another kid wearing the Shujin uniform running up in front of him. The boy had bright yellow hair (so bright that Akira could tell it was fake), and wore an irritated expression on his face. He stopped in front of Akira and was breathing heavily, as if he had just finished running a marathon. Curious, Akira cleared his throat and spoke up to get the boy’s attention. “Pervy…. teacher?” 

The blond boy whipped around at Akira’s words, looking more annoyed than ever. “What?” he asked, one of his brown eyes twitching. “You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?” Akira raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?” he asked. The blond boy rolled his eyes and kicked the ground. “That asshole in the car just now,” he grumbled. “That slimy jerk is way too interested in high school girls.”

Akira gripped his phone slightly at the boy’s words.  _ I hate this place already.  _ The blond boy was still talking. “Like, dude! Who do you think you are, the king of a castle?”  _ He must really hate that guy.  _ “Is he a teacher at Shujin or something?” Akira asked. The blond boy nodded slowly, looking confused. “No shit, dude!” He took a step forward, and Akira noticed his expression softening. “You  _ do  _ go to Shujin, right? I mean, you’re wearin’ our uniform.” Akira nodded. “I think so. I just moved here,” he replied, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. “Sounds like the school isn’t as great as I was told, huh?” The boy nodded, wearing a scowl that could match Akira’s any day. “Don’t even get me started.” He glanced behind him at the rainy street, then back at Akira. “This rain ain’t too bad,” he said. “Come on, we don’t wanna be late. I’ll show ya a shortcut.” He started walking, but stopped suddenly, holding his forehead. “Agh…” he grumbled, his eyes squeezed shut. Akira rushed forward, worried. If his guide to the school was somehow suddenly unwell, it wouldn’t be good news. “You okay?” he asked, suddenly feeling a surge of pain shooting through his head. The boy nodded, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, my head just hurts… Damn it. I wanna go home…” With that, he set off, and Akira followed him, feeling less doubtful now that he had a friend at his side.

☁️ ☁️ ☁️

Down the street, make a left, go down an alley. Akira was slightly confused about how long it would take them to get to the school, even with the shortcut, but at the same time, he trusted the blond boy. He hadn’t said much after Akira started following him, which made Akira feel somewhat awkward. He hadn’t even told Akira his name yet.

“Hey,” he called, speeding up a little to catch up with the blond boy. He stopped and turned around, surprised. “What’s up?” he asked. Akira rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Nothing, I just realized something…” he started, trying not to make eye contact with the expectant boy. “I uh… I never got your name.” The blond boy raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised. “You wanna know my name?” he asked. Akira shrugged. “I mean, you’re showing me the way. Might as well.” The boy nodded. “Alright. Name’s Sakamoto Ryuji.” He extended his hand, and Akira took it. “Kurusu Akira,” he replied. Ryuji gave him a small smile. “Nice to meetcha.” They nodded at each other once again, and continued down the alleyway, the rain and the teacher in the car nearly forgotten. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, at the beginning of this chapter: don’t make it pegoryu don’t make it pegoryu don’t make it pegoryu don’t m  
> me at the end of this chapter: fuck
> 
> if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! it makes me happy knowing people like my work!
> 
> thank you for reading!


	4. Kicking Up A Fuss

“Uh, what the hell?”

Upon emerging from the alleyway, Akira and Ryuji were not met with the sight of Shujin Academy, but instead a large, old-looking European-style castle. The sky behind it was cloudy and purple, and although what Akira remembered to be a fairly modern-looking building from the school’s website was now an old castle, the city around him remained unchanged. He glanced over at Ryuji, who was staring at the castle with wide, horrified eyes. “This definitely isn’t the school,” he murmured. Akira bit his lip and scoffed. “Yeah, I can see that.” He went closer to the building to get a closer look, and noticed a large sign lining the front of it: “ **SHUJIN HIGH SCHOOL** ”.  _ We  _ should _ be in the right place.  _ Akira turned around and looked back at Ryuji, who was doing something on his phone. “Dammit, no service? Where the hell did we end up?”

They looked at each other for a moment, then took a few more steps toward the large doors at the center. “I guess we should go in and ask,” Ryuji suggested, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Akira nodded at him, and they started forward. 

As soon as the heavy doors behind them closed, Akira immediately wanted to leave. The air in the castle felt dirty and musty, and he didn’t like it at all. He turned to Ryuji, who looked just as confused as Akira felt, and was still trying to get his phone to work. “I thought this was the school,” he mumbled, pocketing his phone and looking around. “How the fuck did we end up in a creepy place like this?” Akira shrugged. “Beats me,” he replied. “Though I can say I’ve never been in a school like this before.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Akira could hear something coming from behind them. It sounded like heavy footsteps, and the two confused teens spun around to investigate the source. A few seconds later, a head poked out from behind a corner. 

Startled, they jumped, looked at each other, then back at the head, which showed itself more until it was revealed to belong to a knight, twice Akira’s height and complete with armor, a shield, and a long sword. “Dude, what the fuck?!” Ryuji shouted, stepping back. “Scare me to death, why don’tcha?” When the knight said nothing, Ryuji glanced up and down, then back at Akira, seemingly at a loss for words. Akira said nothing. What was he supposed to do? Ryuji bit his lip and looked back at the knight, who continued to stand over them. “Uh, what’s with the armor? There’s gotta be someone in there, right?” Ryuji asked. The air grew more and more tense with each passing second, and suddenly, Akira felt like he needed to get out. Now. “Hey,” he started, touching Ryuji’s shoulder. “I think we should get out of here.” The other boy turned his head, confused. “What, you sc-”

“OOF!”

In less than a second, Ryuji was slammed to the ground by the knight. “What the fuck?!” he shouted, struggling under the weight of the knight. “You’re gonna break my bones, dammit!” He looked up at Akira, who gripped the straps of his bag and glanced around the room, his heart pounding. He took a step back and tried to run, but was floored (literally) by another knight, and soon he felt and saw no more. 

☁ ☁ ☁

When Akira woke up, he was disappointed to find out that being knocked out by a huge medieval-looking knight in a mysterious European castle in the middle of Tokyo with a kid he had just met was not a dream. He found himself in a cell not unlike the one from his dream, except this time it was dank and dirty and grimy. He could see chains and shackles hanging on the walls and could hear a waterfall in the distance. Akira sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Yo, you awake?” came Ryuji’s voice from next to him. Akira nodded and stood up, walking up to the bars and looking at the area outside. They seemed to be locked in a cell in a dungeon that looked as if nature was starting to take over the castle’s interior. “Startin’ to think this ain’t no dream,” Ryuji said, having moved to where Akira stood. He just nodded. “This is the weirdest goddamn first day of school I’ve ever experienced…”

After a few minutes had passed and still no one had come to their rescue, Ryuji and Akira were at their wits’ end. Ryuji turned to Akira, who was busying himself with a game on his phone, and then back at the river flowing in front of them. “Are we gonna die here?” he wondered aloud, causing Akira to look up from his phone and at Ryuji. He shrugged. “No clue.” Ryuji started looking around the cell for the third time in the past hour, for something,  _ anything  _ they could use to try and escape. He looked at Akira again, who was now trying to pick the lock from the outside, then at his bag. “Hey, dude, can I look at your bag for a second?” Ryuji asked, trying to sound casual and not at all terrified. Akira looked back at him, and nodded. “Sure,” he said, going back to fighting the lock. “You’re not gonna find anything of use in there, though.” He nudged the bag towards the blond boy with his foot, and Ryuji immediately unzipped it and started digging.  _ All right, new kid,  _ Ryuji thought.  _ What’re you hiding? _

An old-looking pencil case, a notebook, what seemed to be Akira’s wallet, a lighter, his phone charger, a pocket knife, a pack of cigarettes, a crumpled up piece of paper, and a map of the Shibuya underground. Ryuji zipped the bag back up and pushed it back towards his new friend’s feet, thinking. Maybe Kamoshida had actually been right about something for once when he said that the transfer student was a real criminal.  _ He doesn’t seem that bad, though,  _ he thought as he watched Akira continue to fidget with the lock.  _ If he really was dangerous, he woulda knifed me before I even looked at him.  _

A minute later, Ryuji was snapped out of his reverie by the sounds of footsteps coming from further down the hallway. Akira immediately took his hands off the lock and put them back in his pockets, and Ryuji stood up to see who was there. He felt his blood run cold when he saw who was there.

A group of the knights from earlier was walking up to the cell, their faces gray and expressionless. “Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon,” the guard at the front sneered. “Your charge is unlawful entry. Thus, you will be sentenced to death.” 

Akira and Ryuji’s jaws dropped, horrified at what they had just heard. “Say what?!” Ryuji shouted. He raised his fist, about to retaliate, but was cut off by the sound of another approaching voice. A gnarled, slimy-sounding voice.

“No one is allowed to do as they please in  _ my  _ castle.”

The guards parted, and approaching them was a man who looked all too familiar.

He was tall, but slouching, and was wearing a glittery pink cape outlined with white fur, with nothing underneath except for a hot pink speedo. Even with the yellow eyes and disgusting outfit, Akira could tell who it was. “You’re that asshole who had a girl in your car!” he spat. Ryuji turned to him, a shocked look on his face. “You recognized him already?!” he asked. Akira scoffed. “I could never forget a chin as blocky as his.” The Kamoshida in front of them narrowed his eyes at them and snatched a ring of keys from one of the guards, then started opening the cell. “Who gave you the permission to speak like that to a king?!” he barked, kicking the door open. Akira and Ryuji jumped back, and even from further away, Akira could see Kamoshida’s disgusting hairy legs. Yuck.

The rest of the guards stepped in, and quickly grabbed Akira and Ryuji, holding them in place. Kamoshida stepped forward and leered at them, his focus on Ryuji. “I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it’d be you, Sakamoto… Seems you haven’t learned your lesson at all.” He turned to Akira, who scowled at him. “And you brought a friend this time, because you can’t do anything yourself.” Ryuji struggled against the guard, trying to speak up. “This ain’t funny, asshole!” he shouted. The guard tightened its grip on the struggling blond, and Kamoshida turned back to him, his eyes narrowed. “Is that how you speak to a king?” he growled. “It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all!” Suddenly, Kamoshida took another step forward and smacked Ryuji across the face, a horrible grin decorating his own. “Take this!” he sneered, throwing a punch. Ryuji cried out in pain, and Kamoshida just laughed before punching him again. “Worthless scum!” he shouted, adding another blow. “Useless pest!”

Again, and again, and again, until the guard had dropped Ryuji and Kamoshida was laughing too hard to throw another punch. Akira felt sick as he struggled against the guard’s grip, unable to do anything but watch. When Kamoshida finally caught his breath, he looked down at Ryuji and spat on the floor where he lay. “Where’d your energy from earlier go?” he sneered. Ryuji said nothing. A guard grabbed the blond by the neck and held him up to the wall, pointing its long sword at his chest. “I’ll have you killed right now,” Kamoshida said in a low voice, a nasty smile on his face. Akira continued struggling against the guard, but its grip was too strong. He had to do something. Ryuji seemed like a nice guy, and he couldn’t let his only friend get killed right in front of him! Akira was supposed to be the scruffy delinquent. He was better than this! “What the hell is your problem?!” he shouted at Kamoshida. 

The guard stopped, lowered his sword, and dropped Ryuji, who groaned and rubbed his neck. Kamoshida turned around to look at Akira, who didn’t flinch, even with Kamoshida and the guard staring him down. “What was that?” the mop-haired man sneered, his lip curling. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who I am.” Akira just scowled at him. Kamoshida’s glare sharpened. “That look in your eyes irritates me!” he shouted, suddenly kicking Akira in the stomach, pushing him against the wall. Immediately, he got back up and tried rushing at Kamoshida, but the guards grabbed him by the arms and held him back, leaving Ryuji out in the open, defenseless against the remaining guard towering over him. Akira could once again do nothing but watch and struggle, until suddenly, the world around him became quiet.

“What’s the matter? Are you simply going to watch?”

A deep voice sounded inside Akira’s head, cutting through the sudden silence. Akira’s head shot up, and he looked around frantically, trying to find the source. Before he could retaliate, the voice spoke again. “Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing.” Akira glanced up at Ryuji, who was struggling with all his might. The mysterious voice spoke again. “Was your previous decision-” Akira suddenly thought of that night back in his hometown, and the struggling woman, “-a mistake then?” Akira shook his head, feeling as if the voice should have known the answer. “Of course it wasn’t,” he muttered.

The voice gave a low chuckle. “Very well. I have heeded your resolve.” Akira felt a sudden burst of pain unlike anything he had ever felt in his life go through his head. It was worse than any beating he had ever endured from the bullies at school, worse than flu shots, worse than death itself-

“Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I.”

The pain was getting worse. Akira was struggling against the guards again, desperately wishing for the pain to end, there were tears rolling down his cheeks now,

“Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice!”

The guards were pushing him harder against the wall, and the pain just kept intensifying, and Akira just wanted it to stop, death would be a preferable alternative to this-

“Call upon my name, and release thy rage!”

The pain had reached its peak-

“Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained, to Hell itself!”

Akira let out a scream, startling everyone around him, including Kamoshida, who spun around to look at the source. “What was that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Akira, who was breathing heavily, his fists clenched. Kamoshida rolled his eyes. “You desire to be killed that much?! Fine!” he shouted, pointing at Akira. “Execute him!” The guard beside him suddenly pushed him with its shield, knocking Akira’s glasses off his face. The guards surrounded him, pinning him to the wall with their spears holding his head up. Kamoshida raised his hand, and the guard captain raised his sword, ready to swing-

**_whoosh._ **

A gust of wind suddenly swept through the dungeon, blowing the guard back. Akira’s eyes were wide open, staring at the ground. The guards stepped back, holding their shields over their faces, and when the wind finally settled, they looked back up at Akira, who raised his head, which was suddenly very different.

In the space where his glasses once sat was now a black and white domino mask. Akira, who seemed to know exactly what to do, grabbed the edges and pulled, groaning. It hurt, but he kept pulling, knowing he had to get it off, he just  _ had  _ to, but it hurt, and a horrible ripping sound suddenly filled the air, mixing with Akira’s pained screams. Blood was spurting from his face, but Akira was no longer in pain. Instead, he felt the opposite. He felt great. No, more than that- he felt amazing, no,  _ ecstatic.  _ He looked forward at Kamoshida, who now looked terrified, and grinned.

A wall of blue flames suddenly shot up all around him, and although Ryuji couldn’t see Akira, he could hear him. He sounded almost hysterical, cackling while blue flames and broken chains flew around him. The flames directly in front of him disappeared, and standing before Ryuji was no longer the cynical transfer student- but instead was a maniacal-looking figure dressed in a long, black leather tailcoat, with bright red gloves and a dark suit underneath, tucked into high-heeled boots. Behind him stood a huge black-winged demon, wearing what looked like a red Victorian-style suit and thigh-high boots- wait, were those heels  _ knives _ ?! Ryuji was utterly baffled, staring up at his strange, suddenly insane-looking friend, grasping one of the broken chains in one hand, a long, straight silver dagger in the other. An insane smile decorated his face as he stared down at Ryuji, his steely-grey eyes filled with a new, almost  _ hungry  _ glare. A single sentence left Akira’s mouth before he tore his gaze away from Ryuji, and glared down at the guards.

_ “This is going to be fun.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOO writing this was fun
> 
> i'm going to go a little canon divergent here and make it so akira is a little more powerful than he usually is starting off, for a few reasons: one, being that i'm doing a new game plus while writing this, and two, i think it's fair to say that the violent angry crime boy akira would have more power than just eiha and sukunda. the arsene i had in the compendium at the time of starting out the game was pretty beefy (not to brag but he had eiagon, maeiagon, sword dance, riot gun, thermopylae, and debilitate uwu) so i'm going to go along with that one because this is my story and i said so.
> 
> if you read all that and still enjoyed, please let me know by leaving kudos/commenting! i really like knowing that people enjoy my work! thank you for reading!


	5. Pick Another Fight

It took Akira no time at all to redirect his attention to Kamoshida, who was shaking with fright in the corner. Power-hungry grey eyes met timid yellow ones, and for a second, Ryuji seriously thought Akira was going to kill Kamoshida right then and there. However, another second passed, and Kamoshida regained his composure, straightened his back, and pointed a shaking finger at Akira, shouting. “Guards! Kill him!” The toppled soldiers sprang up and dissolved into purple and red mist, and two jack-o-lanterns floated in their places. Without a second thought, Akira ran at them, swiping the dagger up and killing them (with some help from that demon behind him- what  _ was  _ it?). 

Breathing heavily, he spun around to look at the stunned Kamoshida, and then down at Ryuji. His glare softened, and he hastily bent down to pick up the keys that the now disintegrated guards had dropped. “Get up!” he yelled, gesturing towards the door. Ryuji nodded, grabbed their school bags, and together they escaped, locking Kamoshida in the cell behind them. “Ha! Look who’s the prisoner now!” Ryuji laughed, pointing at him, then turning back to Akira, who was tightening the red silk gloves he was wearing. “Ready to go?” he asked, and Ryuji nodded. 

“So, what the hell happened just now?” Ryuji asked as they tried navigating through the dungeons. Akira shrugged, and started picking at a lock on one of the doors. “Dunno, but it was pretty neat.” Ryuji just gaped at him. “Neat?!” He stared at Akira, at a loss for words. “You almost fucking killed Kamoshida, dude! How is that only just ‘neat’?!” He just shrugged again, and went back to the lock. “I’ve got more important things to focus on,” he murmured. “Like getting us out of here.” He fidgeted with the lock for a few more minutes, before sighing and turning around to face the still-shocked blond. “No good. Let’s look somewhere else.”

They snuck through the dungeons some more, and eventually found a tunnel that led to a set of stairs. Climbing them only greeted the two with even more of the underground prison, and Akira was starting to lose his calm and cool composure. “We’ve been down here for God knows how long, and we’re still further underground than the fucking subway…” he mumbled as they reached another dead end. He looked at Ryuji, who kicked the ground and sighed. “Think we’re stuck here?” he asked. Akira shook his head. 

“Hey! You two! Wanna know where the exit is?”

Akira and Ryuji spun around, trying to find the source of the voice. “Where-” Akira started, trying to remember if he had seen anyone else in the dungeons, but the loud and slightly boyish voice cut him off again. “Let me out and I’ll tell you where it is!” 

The two confused teens ran further down the pathway as the voice grew closer, eventually stopping at a dead end. “No good, it’s just another stop!” Ryuji complained, kicking the ground. Akira turned around to look at the cell they were standing next to, and was greeted with the sight of… something.

“What are you staring at?!” it shouted, shaking the bars. “Hurry up and let me out!” 

It was very short, with big blue eyes and a little yellow scarf wrapped around its neck. It  _ looked  _ like a cat, but not like any cat Akira had ever seen before. “You want to know how to get out of here, right?” it asked. “Let me out and I’ll help you escape!” It pointed at a ring of rusty keys hanging on the wall beside the cell with its short arms, desperation in its voice. Ryuji raised an eyebrow and looked at Akira, then back down at the strange creature. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” he snapped. “You just look like some kinda weird cat monster to me.” The creature’s demeanor changed from frantic to indignant almost immediately. “I am NOT a cat!” he shot back. “I am Morgana! Say that again, and I’ll make you regret it!” Ryuji rolled his eyes and turned to Akira, who was watching the scene unfold, looking amused. “This thing sounds like it’s all talk,” he mumbled. Akira shrugged. “I dunno, I kinda wanna get out of here.” 

The creature (Morgana, was it?) jumped excitedly. “You there! Frizzy hair!” he yelled, directing his attention at Akira. “You wanna get out of here, right?” Akira nodded and glanced at the key ring on the wall. Morgana jumped again and waved his arms. “Let me out, please! I’ll tell you how to get out!” Akira looked at him, then at the key ring, then at Ryuji, then back at Morgana. He hesitated, but he was also feeling nervous, because he and Ryuji were seriously late, and they  _ really  _ needed to get out of there. Biting his lip, Akira grabbed the keys and started unlocking the cell. “You better not be lying.”

☁ ☁ ☁

Morgana delivered his promise, leading Akira and Ryuji to a room off the main hall and directing them to climb through a vent shaft that would lead to the outside. Akira wished the cat good luck in not getting caught again (it was the least he could do), crawled through the vent, and ran as far away from the castle as he could, Ryuji at his side.

“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.”

Startled, Akira dropped his phone and looked around. The robotic voice had been right; they were back. He bent down and picked it back up, rubbing his head and wondering what the  _ hell  _ had just happened to him. “You have any goddamn clue how we got back here?” Ryuji asked him. Akira shook his head. “I think we should get going.” Akira’s head hurt, and he had a bad feeling about what would happen if they spent any longer sitting around. Ryuji nodded. “We can go over this shit later.”

Kawakami was less than pleased to see Akira showing up late. Introducing himself in front of the class went even worse. Akira didn’t like how nervous he felt, even though he had literally almost killed a man not too many hours ago. “I’m uh, Akira Kurusu. Sorry for being late.” He stared at the ground as he was directed to the open seat near the window, and Akira didn’t even care that the girl sitting in front of him was the girl he saw in Kamoshida’s car. He had other things to worry about.

“Is that him? The criminal transfer student?”

_ These assholes sure are chatty. _

“He seems quiet, but I bet when he loses it…”

_ Do they have me pegged as some sort of psycho? _

“I heard that he gets in tons of fights!”

_ You don’t know the half of it. _

“Really? I heard that he spent a year in juvie!”

_ I’d prefer that over hearing this shit. _

“What’s the school doing letting criminals like him go here?”

_ Trust me, I don’t want to be here either. _

Although there were only a few hours left of the school day, it felt like eons had passed before Akira finally stepped out of the classroom to go home. However, just as he was about to go down the stairs, he heard Kawakami’s voice calling him. Groaning, he turned around to see her standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and foot tapping. “What is it?” he asked. She glared at him. Not good.

“I heard you’ve been spending time around that Sakamoto-kun before school,” she said sharply. Akira raised his eyebrows. “‘That’ Sakamoto?” Kawakami narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t ask questions. I’m just trying to steer you away from bad influences, that’s all.” As the words left her mouth, her expression turned from exasperated to annoyed. “Speak of the devil…”

Turning around, Akira saw Ryuji approaching them, and for the first time that day, he felt relieved. “Hey,” he grunted, staring at the ground. Akira gave him a small smile, then looked at Kawakami, who was glaring at them. “Do you need something?” she asked. Ryuji shook his head. “Just wanted to see him,” he shot back, gesturing at Akira. He then stepped closer, and whispered something in Akira’s ear. “I’ll see you on the roof.” With that, he turned around and started up the stairs. Akira looked back at his teacher, who rolled her eyes. “See? He’s not one you’d want to spend your time around.” Akira shook his head. “He’s the only person who’s been nice to me at all since I got here,” he snapped. Kawakami seemed surprised, but regained her composure and glared at him. Akira didn’t care. “I’ll be heading off now.” He could feel her eyes on him as he headed up the stairs, wondering if his day could possibly be any worse.

“Yo, you’re here.”

Ryuji’s voice made Akira feel slightly better. The roof was cluttered with extra desks and what looked like planters. Akira headed over to where Ryuji was standing and dropped his bag on one of the desks, opening it and lighting a cigarette. It had been a long day.

“Betcha Kawakami told you to avoid me, huh?” Ryuji grumbled. Akira nodded. “I told her that I didn’t care. You’re the only person who’s bothered to be nice to me since I got here, after all.” Ryuji smiled. “Heh, thanks dude…” He trailed off, watching Akira smoke. “You don’t seem like a bad guy. Those rumors don’t mean a damn thing to me.” Akira smiled. “Thanks.” 

They sat in silence for a moment, then Akira spoke up again. “So, what did you ask me up here for?” he asked. Ryuji jumped slightly, then laughed. “Oh, yeah! Right.” He pushed himself up onto one of the desks and crossed his legs. “So, about that castle.” Ryuji seemed slightly hesitant, but continued. “You think it was a dream?” Akira shook his head. “No way. That shit felt real.” They nodded at each other. Akira took a long drag on his cigarette and sighed. “Why’d you ask?”

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno, I was just thinkin’…” He glanced at Akira, then looked at the ground. “I was thinkin’ we should go back. See if we can ask that cat thing for more info about it. I mean, he didn’t even tell us how that shit was even there.” Akira nodded. “Sure, I’m down.” He looked at Ryuji, who seemed surprised. “What?” Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno, I didn’t exactly expect you to say yes.” He sounded slightly hesitant, almost like Akira’s answer unsettled him. Akira just laughed. “You seemed scared shitless back in there,” he said, causing Ryuji to frown at him, his face red. “Come on!” Akira laughed. “You totally were. I thought you weren’t going to want to go back there ever again.” The blond smiled sheepishly. “I mean, you were actin’ kinda crazy there, I gotta admit.” He said, getting another laugh from Akira. “You were!” 

Akira smiled. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed like that with a friend, and he had only known Ryuji for a day. At first, he had been shocked that someone would want to be nice to him, let alone spend time together. However, even though their newfound friendship had come from almost dying at the hands of a crazed P.E. teacher, Akira knew he could trust Ryuji. They exchanged numbers as they rode the train back home, and when Ryuji waved at him as Akira got off at his stop, he felt himself getting lost in thought.

If all it took for Akira to make friends was a near-death experience, it was going to be one hell of a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me writing this: don't make it pegoryu don't make it pegoryu there are literally so many other directions this story could take don't make it pegoryu don't m  
> my goblin brain: hehe cute blond boy go "for real?"
> 
> please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thank you for reading!


	6. Are You Ready?

** April 11th, 2016 / 10:04pm **

**Ryuji:** Hey, I decided to go ahead and message you.

**Ryuji:** Can you see this?

**Akira:** nope

**Ryuji:** You SO can!

**Ryuji:** I’m gonna be countin’  on you tomorrow, okay?

**Akira:** about what

**Akira:** wait

**Ryuji:** The castle, dude!

**Akira:** the castle, right?

**Akira:** oh fuck nevermind

**Ryuji:** We’re goin’  tomorrow after school, that okay with you?

**Akira:** yeah as long as we' re not out for too long or else the guy i live with is gonna be pissed

**Ryuji:** ?

**Akira:** i' ll explain later

**Akira:** goodnight

**Ryuji:** Night!

Akira smiled as he turned off his phone. The moment he returned home, Sojiro grilled him with all sorts of questions about why he had been late to school, and because Akira couldn' t give him a truthful answer (how was he supposed to explain the castle?), he had to help Sojiro with the shop for the rest of the night. He was nice enough to let Akira go to the bathhouse across the street before he sent him to bed, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open as Akira finished texting Ryuji. That strange castle was all he could think about. Hopefully he would dream about that instead of that long-nosed man and those bitchy little twins … 

“ About time you ’ ve come to! On your feet, inmate! ” 

Fuck.

Akira ran his hands through his hair and sighed as he slowly stood up and walked towards the cell door. The twins looked just as irritated as they were the last time he dreamed of the place, but Igor retained his unsettlingly wide smile as he stared at Akira, who was already getting sick of the place.  “What do you want?”  he asked, gripping the bars. One of the twins smacked the bars with her baton.  “You’re in the presence of our master, Inmate!”  she snapped.  “Be polite!”  Akira just rolled his eyes. What could the guy even do?

“Oh…? You’ve awakened to your powers…  and special ones at that.”  Igor’s lips barely moved as he spoke, which sent a chill down Akira’s spine.  “Your rehabilitation can finally begin.”  He didn’t understand.  “What rehabilitation?”  Akira yelled, shaking the bars again. This made no sense at all. Meanwhile, the long-nosed man chuckled and shook his head.  “There is no need to understand it for the time being,”  he replied, seemingly attempting to be reassuring. However, it just made Akira more confused. Igor continued.  “You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to.” 

_That’s what that weird stuff was back in the castle?_ Akira wanted to ask, but Igor kept talking.  “Personas are, in other words, a  “mask”—  an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you.”  Akira just shook his head.  “That's none of my concern,”  he shot back.  “Unless you’re talking about that weird castle and the cat thing.”  Igor seemed unfazed.  “There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes.” 

“By the by, have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator?”  he asked. Akira blinked in shock.  “Your WHAT?!”  he exclaimed, ignoring the smacking on the bars from the warden's baton.  “You were the one who put that weird shit on my phone?”  Igor chuckled.  “It will be what allows you to travel between reality and Palaces. I bestowed it to you to train you as a thief.” 

Akira felt more confused than ever. Meanwhile, one of the twins smacked her baton against the bars again.  “The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better treasure it, Inmate!”  she shouted. Akira didn’t care. He just wanted to know what was going on. Igor continued talking.  “We shall continue this conversation another time,”  he said.  “For now, return to your world.”  He gave Akira another wide smile, and before he could say anything else, he was once again plunged into darkness.

☁ ☁ ☁

Akira woke up the next morning with his wrists feeling heavy and a dry mouth. He could hear rain outside and smelled coffee downstairs, and he knew he should hurry so he could get to school on time, but he couldn' t help but think about Igor and the Velvet Room. At least it had given him one answer to his many questions; the Metaverse Navigator had come from Igor. How this strange long-nosed man knew how to make an app that could transfer people to and from different realities he did not know, but that didn' t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting through the school day without finding some way to get himself expelled.

He could feel everyone’s eyes on him the moment he stepped off the Aoyama platform. No doubt the school’s rumor mill had had a field day yesterday when Akira came to school late and ended the day talking to Ryuji Sakamoto on the rooftop.  “Not only does the transfer student show up late, but I heard that he was smoking on the roof with Sakamoto yesterday!”  _Yeah I was, so what? he thought_ , staring out the window of the classroom. Why did it matter so much to them what he did?

“Quiet down!” shouted the teacher. He then directed his attention to Akira, who was still staring out the window. “Hey! New kid!” he shouted. Shit. Akira jerked awake and sat up in his seat, looking up at the teacher.He hadn’t heard much about the school and its teachers, but according to the other students, Mr. Ushimaru was one mean son of a bitch. “Is that how you behave when someone is talking?!” Suddenly, he grabbed a piece of chalk and threw it in Akira’s direction. Looks like he’s not used to delinquent students, he thought as he dodged it quickly. The entire class immediately started whispering to each other. “Oh my god, he dodged Ushimaru’s throw!” “Is he a ninja?” Akira looked back out the window and smirked. Teachers threw chalk at him all the time back at school in his hometown. One measly throw from a teacher who didn’t even know him? Piss easy. 

Akira spent the rest of the day listening to rumors, staring out the window, and trying not to draw any more attention to himself than there already was. Ryuji was waiting outside the classroom when the day was over, and seeing his fake-blond hair was the first thing to make Akira smile that day.  “Yo, you ready?”  he asked as they made their way back to the school gate. Akira nodded.  “Of course.”  They leaned against the wall in the alley, Akira pulling out his phone.  “So, I think I remember how we got there,”  he said. Ryuji’s eyes widened.  “For real?”  Akira nodded.  “This weird app installed itself onto my phone and I can't delete it.”  He showed the app to his friend, who raised his eyebrows.  “I looked at it and I saw the words  “Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle…”  There was a strange pulse in the air, and suddenly, everything slowed down. Akira smirked.  “That should do it.” 

When the distortion settled and Akira pushed his phone back into his pocket, Ryuji stepped back and gasped.  “The castle is back!”  he yelled.  “And your clothes!”  Akira glanced down, and sure enough, he was back in the dark suit and tailcoat. He tightened his gloves and pushed the mask further up his nose, smirking.  “Not bad, huh?"he asked. Ryuji scoffed.  “You LIKE it?!”  he spluttered. He gaped at Akira for a moment, who just shook his head and started towards the castle.  “Let’s go! ”  he said. Startled, Ryuji followed him, jogging to catch up.  “Hang on! You act all different when you’re in that get up…” 

When Akira reached the vent shaft they had crawled out of, he and Ryuji were greeted by Morgana, the strange cat creature they had met the previous day.  “What are you two doing back here?”  it hissed, looking shocked. Akira crossed his arms and tapped his foot.  “I could ask the same of you,”  he replied smoothly. Morgana looked annoyed, but he quickly brushed it off and frowned at them.  “Looks like Frizzy Hair’s got some attitude,”  he shot back.  “Anyways, like I said before, what are you idiots doing back here?”  He glanced at Ryuji, who took a step closer to Akira.  “I thought Blondie never wanted to come back here ever again, but here he is!”  Ryuji narrowed his eyes.  “You wanna go, cat?”  he hissed, leaning forward. Morgana glared at him.  “Bring it.” 

Akira stepped forward, separating them.  “Knock it off, morons.”  He looked up at the vent shaft, then back at Morgana, who looked slightly shocked.  “Yeah, I did,”  he snapped, which only caused the not-cat to widen his eyes further.  “Now, are we gonna go back into this castle or not?”  The bickering teen and not-cat quieted, and followed Akira into the castle.

☁ ☁ ☁

Morgana guided them through the dungeons per Ryuji’s request. He mentioned hearing screams and seeing what looked like people wearing Shujin uniforms trapped in the cells in the dungeons, and wanted to help them, despite Morgana trying to explain that they weren’t real people. Apparently, the castle was in another reality based on  “distorted human cognition”  or something —  a bunch of stuff that Akira didn’t really understand. He didn't really care. He liked his outfit —  which apparently meant that the  “palace ruler”  (was it a castle or a palace?) viewed him as a threat, and he liked the shiny silver dagger he carried too. It was long and straight, with a black handle and a hole above the hilt. The mask was neat too —  he wasn’t sure how it stayed on his face so well without falling off, and even more curious how he was able tosee without his glasses, but Akira knew they were questions for another day. Questions he would add to a perpetually expanding list. 

The dungeons seemed to be never-ending, and Akira was beginning to feel tired of climbing stairs and hiding behind barrels and listening to Ryuji and Morgana bickering. He could faintly hear a deep, familiar voice in his head, telling him to hurry along and escape the dungeons, but he didn’t want to leave Ryuji down there without him being able to see the prisoners, and Morgana was saying something about a  “safe room”—  somewhere they could talk without the enemies finding them. He and Ryuji followed him, and when they passed through the hazy-looking door, Akira finally felt like he could rest.

“Alright, so what the fuck is going on here?!”  Ryuji snapped at Morgana, who was standing on a table. Akira just plopped down into a chair and ran his hands through his hair. Although he was feeling tired, confused, and somewhat irritated, the silk gloves felt nice against his skin. Morgana was still talking.

“Basically, this place is the school as seen by the ruler of this place —  I think you called him Kamoshida?” 

Immediately, Ryuji’s look of confusion turned into a scowl.  “  Yep. That’s him.” Morgana looked slightly disturbed at Ryuji's change of attitude. "I don't know what happened between the two of you, but you seem to really hate this Kamoshida guy." Ryuji nodded, his glare hardening. "Hate doesn't even cover how I feel," he spat. "EVERYTHING is that asshole's fault!" He took a deep breath, then turned to look at Akira, who had since redirected his attention back to his dagger.  And what about him, huh?”  Ryuji asked, pointing at him.  “Why’s he dressed like that? He looks like a magician or something!”  Akira leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the table Morgana was standing on. High-heeled boots looked surprisingly nice on him. Morgana was still talking. 

“Your appearance—”  _He must be talking to me,_ “Is a manifestation of that. It’s the image of rebellion that you hold within.”  Akira raised his eyebrows, forgetting that nobody could see them behind his mask and his hair. “I never thought my mental image of a rebel would be so fancy,”  he remarked. Ryuji gave a dry laugh and looked at Morgana.  “I’m more curious about you than his clothes!”  he spluttered.  “What even are you? A cat?” 

Morgana suddenly looked infuriated.  “No, I’m a human!”  he shouted.  “An honest-to-god human!”  Ryuji crossed his arms and scoffed.  “No, you're obviously more like a cat!”  He looked at Akira, who was doing something on his phone. The camera app wouldn’t open. Strange.  “What?”  he asked, noticing both Morgana and Ryuji’s eyes on him.  “You want my input on this?”  Morgana rolled his overly large eyes and shook his head.  “No! Are you ready to keep going?”  Akira nodded and got up to leave, but Ryuji stopped him.  “Wait! I gotta show you something!” 

Akira turned around to see Ryuji rummaging around in his school bag for something, and a few seconds later he pulled out a toy gun.  “Why did you bring that with us?”  Akira asked, seeing the eager look on the fake blond’s face.  “I brought this just in case!”  he said, grinning.  “I mean, it’s just a toy, so it'll only make sounds. But it looks real, so it'll totally fake 'em out!”  Akira nodded and took it, putting it in his pocket, thanked him, then turned towards the door.  “Is everyone ready?” 

The three of them continued on through the dungeons, eventually finding a hallway with a promising-looking door at the end. It seemed like it would be an exit, however, it was guarded by a particularly strong-looking enemy (or Shadows, as Morgana called them).  “This isn't good…”  the not-cat mumbled as he stared at it. He then looked at Akira, who was fidgeting with his gloves.  “You wanna take it down?”  Akira looked at him, confused.  “Why are you asking me? Aren’t you the one who knows the most about this?" Morgana glared at him.  “Let's just go at it, okay? I wanna try something.”  Before Akira could retaliate, the not-cat ran towards the Shadow and jumped at it, ripping its mask off. The guard dissolved into something- a fairy, and Akira ran up to it with Morgana.

“What do you want me to do?”  Akira asked, watching the fairy fly around. Morgana scoffed at him.  “Just do what I say!”  he hissed back.  “Remember that toy gun Ryuji gave you? Take it out and fire at the Shadow.”  Akira was confused.  “I thought that thing wasn't real, dumbass! What's it gonna do?”  Morgana scoffed.  “Just do it!” 

Sighing, Akira took out the fake gun and pointed it at the fairy, who was still flying around and laughing. He pressed the trigger, and to his surprise, a loud BANG was heard, a bullet flew out of the barrel, and the fairy fell to the ground, cried out in pain, and disintegrated.  “Yes!”  Morgana exclaimed, jumping up and waving his arms.  “I knew it!”  Akira pocketed the gun and looked down at Morgana, who was brimming with glee.  “What the hell just happened?”  he hissed.  “That toy just shot real bullets!"

Morgana beamed at him.  “Yes, but this is the cognitive world! Because the enemy views it as a real, dangerous weapon, it becomes real!”  Akira gave a soft chuckle and pocketed the gun again.  “Looks like I've gotta practice my aim, then.”  he muttered, smirking.  “Let's get going.” 

☁ ☁ ☁

Ryuji didn' t find what he was looking for.

They did find what looked like torture chambers further into the dungeons, complete with fake Shujin volleyball team members. Ryuji became enraged at the sight of them and started yet another argument with Morgana —  apparently, he wanted to save them. They weren't real people, though; "just cognitive puppets", the students and volleyball team members as seen through Kamoshida 's eyes. In the end, Akira had to lead the way back through the dungeons to leave. They had nothing else to do there. 

They were halfway through the main entrance hall when they were suddenly stopped by the sound of someone' s voice. An all-too-familiar voice. 

“Urgh! You knaves again?! I thought I smelled something terrible, who knew it would be those petty thieves from yesterday?!"

Kamoshida was back. This time, he was descending the stairs from the upper floor of the main hall with a group of guards following him, the golden one in the front much larger than the rest. Akira suddenly felt a foot on his back, and he was forced to the ground, along with Morgana —  when did the guards sneak up behind them?  “Kamoshida!”  Ryuji shouted, pointing at him.  "What're you doin' to the volleyball team, you scumbag?!”  The glitter-clad king just laughed.  “It's none of your business, Sakamoto! Looks like your escape last time gave you some confidence, huh?

"Not that it matters.”  Kamoshida jerked his thumb at the huge guard standing behind them.  “This one isn't like the others.”  It stepped closer to them, and Akira started struggling against the weight of the guard pinning him to the ground. He had shown so much power yesterday, how was he so insignificant now, when his friend needed his help?! If Akira didn't do anything, Ryuji was going to die! _Fuck, I have to do something!_

Kamoshida laughed.  “Don't you get it now?!”  he jeered.  “I’m the KING! No one can defy me here, especially not shit-for-brains brats like you! ESPECIALLY not you, Sakamoto! Running around like a hero, when you can ’  t do a thing…just like your old track days!”  Akira saw Ryuji clench his fists. Kamoshida was still talking.

“I originally wanted to dismantle the track team from the start, but that former coach got in my way too much! In the end, I had to settle with only breaking his star's leg!”  Ryuji gasped. Kamoshida was still talking, his voice growing louder.  “Mine were the only results that mattered! I deserved all of the attention! You brats and that old coach were in my way!”  He glared down at Ryuji, who was hiding his face in his hands and shaking.  “You bastard…”  he murmured, his voice quivering.  “You motherfucker…”  Kamoshida was cackling now. Akira was still struggling under the guard's foot, gritting his teeth in fury. Why couldn't he _move?!_

“Isn't that why you quit the team?! You couldn't take it anymore?!”  Kamoshida sneered. Ryuji let out a choked sob as he glared up at the still-talking Kamoshida.  “Now you’re just another waste of space! You can’t do anything, even now! Trash like you won’t ever beat me!”  Angry tears fell from Ryuji’s face onto the floor. Akira wanted nothing more than to get up, pull out the gun from earlier, and shoot Kamoshida in the face, right then and there.

“It’s true…I can’t run anymore.”  Ryuji murmured. Akira gasped.  “Are you stupid?!”  he shouted, still pinned under the unmoving guard's foot. “Get it together! Do you _WANT_ to die here?!”  The blond shook his head.  “  No…  god damn it… He stole everything from me…”  He started standing up, pushing himself off the ground.  “I can't take it back…  But I ain't gonna run away anymore! Not while this childish bastard gets to do what he wants!" Morgana and Akira's eyes widened as they watched Ryuji steady himself, then point a shaky finger at Kamoshida.  **_ “Stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!” _ **

A flash of blue flames suddenly appeared, surrounding him. Akira could hear Ryuji laughing, as if he knew what was coming. Just like the previous day, a sudden heavy wind blew through the hall, knocking the surrounding guards flat. Akira stood up, brushing the filth from the floor off. Morgana chuckled.  “  Looks like you’re up, Blondie.”  he said, grinning. Behind Ryuji was what looked to be skeleton dressed as a pirate, standing on a boat with an arm cannon.  “Hell yeah…”  Ryuji breathed, marveling at the figure behind him. He was dressed differently now; wearing armor on his back, elbows, and knees, black jeans, yellow gloves, a double-sided holster belt, combat boots, a red tie, and finally, a metal mask that looked like a skull. Grinning, Ryuji looked at the confused and furious Kamoshida, with Akira and Morgana at his sides.  “Get ready, Kamoshida … 

You're gonna be next! ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all, i think i gotta address the elephant in the room: p5a dub. OH MY GOD. xanders voice acting... it makes me MELT. i LOVE it. i could listen to akira talking all day. hearing him finally speaking full sentences and showing real emotions??? it's everything i needed and more. i don't even care about how bad the show itself is. akira is just so much more.... fleshed out? also, when he said "aloha to you too!" I DIED!!!
> 
> anyways, new chapter! writing ryuji is so much fun. let this boy say fuck
> 
> as always, please kudos/comment if you enjoyed! thank you for reading!


	7. Daredevil

Why did he have to land on his face again?

Akira stood up slowly, rubbing his cheek gingerly. After somehow escaping the castle with a now-”awakened” Ryuji, he had fallen over and landed facedown on the pavement in the alleyway across from the school upon returning to the “real world”. “You okay?” asked Ryuji, watching Akira brushing himself off. He nodded. “How do you feel?”

Ryuji grinned. “That shit was incredible!” he exclaimed, grinning. “Kamoshida’s gotta be shittin’ himself now!” He picked up his school bag and looked at his phone. “Crap! It’s gettin’ late!” He looked at Akira, who was busy staring at Ryuji’s face with his eyes unfocused. “You good, dude? Kinda creepin’ me out here…” He waved a hand in front of his friend’s face, who blinked and shook his head. “What?” Ryuji laughed. “You were completely out of it, man!” Akira’s confused face suddenly turned into a frown. “No, I was just thinking about how I’m gonna explain to the guy I live with why I’ve been late coming home again!” Akira internally kicked himself for losing focus, but as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Ryuji had a nice smile.

“That’s right!” Ryuji suddenly exclaimed. “Let’s go out for beef bowls! You gotta tell me all about your past and how you ended up here and stuff!” Akira felt slightly hesitant at the sudden invitation, but he supposed that another hour or so wouldn’t be so terrible, and it would be a major dick move to turn down the only guy who’s been nice to you since transferring (and also shared two near-death experiences with). Smiling, Akira nodded and followed Ryuji out of the alley. 

* * * 

“Dude, that’s so fucked up! How much shittier can that asshole get?!”

Akira tried shushing Ryuji, but the damage had been done. The surrounding customers in the beef bowl shop turned to stare at them, but Ryuji either hadn’t noticed or didn’t care. Akira shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a bite of his food. “It’s in the past now, I guess… but you’re right,” he murmured. “I wish I could remember what he looked like.” Ryuji placed a hand on Akira’s shoulder, startling him, but he didn’t mind. “Your situation sucks ass, dude. Mine feels like nothin’ compared to yours.” Akira shook his head. “Don’t feel bad.” He took another bite of his food, then continued talking. “Thanks for taking me here, by the way. You’re like, the first friend I’ve had since…” Akira trailed off, staring at his food. He could feel Ryuji’s hand on his shoulder again. “For real?” he asked softly. Akira nodded. “I didn’t really have a lot of friends back home. There was a group of guys at my old high school I’d smoke with sometimes, but that’s about it.” Akira immediately regretted spilling all of that to a guy he’d only known for two days, but the damage had been done. Ryuji looked surprised. “Damn, I’m sorry man… Sorry for butting in.” He suddenly shrank away and went back to his nearly-empty bowl. Akira felt his stomach drop. “No, don’t feel bad!” he said suddenly. The fake blond looked at him, confused. “It’s my fault for getting so cheesy in the first place.” 

Ryuji looked down at Akira’s half-eaten beef bowl, then immediately started pouring ginger on it. “You need to eat more, man!” he exclaimed. “If the guy you live with ain’t gonna feed ya, then I sure will!” Akira didn’t say anything. For some reason, he felt like he could watch Ryuji worriedly pile ginger onto Akira’s beef bowl forever.

_ Wait, what? _

When he eventually returned back to the cafe, Sojiro was waiting for him with his usual scowl. “Late again?” he grumbled, throwing the newspaper onto the counter behind him. “Sorry,” Akira mumbled. “I actually made a friend today, he took me out for beef bowls.” Sojiro scoffed. “You actually made a friend? As if someone would be brave enough to look you in the eye for more than two seconds.” Akira wanted to argue, but Sojiro stood up and started to leave. “I’m going home. Don’t start any fires.”

Ryuji was waiting for Akira at the school gates the next day. “You ready for that volleyball rally?” he asked. Akira raised an eyebrow. “The what?” He didn’t remember anything about a volleyball rally, and certainly didn’t remember being required to go. Although, it did mean a day without classes, a day where he could sit in the courtyard and smoke without anyone bothering him, a day he could spend with Ryuji…

It felt nice to have a friend.

“You busy after this? If not, I wanna show you a place I found!”

Akira snorted. “Of course I’m not.” He looked at Ryuji, who seemed eager. “What kind of place is this?” 

It had been a long day of watching Kamoshida stroke his ego and crushing the students’ teams in volleyball. Ryuji dragged Akira around the school trying to find the students he saw in the castle, and although they certainly did look like they’d been beaten up quite a bit, they refused to talk. Now, the two were standing in Shibuya Station Square, still in their gym uniforms and feeling somewhat defeated. Ryuji grinned at Akira, who felt his mood lighten ever so slightly. “It ain’t too far. Follow me!”

Eventually, Ryuji led Akira to an alleyway behind Central Street and stopped in front of a store with a bright green neon sign. “Is this it?” he asked. Ryuji nodded. “Yup! I figured we could get better-lookin’ weapons to use in the castle, and I’ve been here before, so why not?” Akira nodded at him. “Sounds good.” They walked forward, but Ryuji stopped him before he could open the door. “Oh… by the way…” He looked back and forth, as if he was afraid they were being eavesdropped on, then leaned in closer to Akira.  _ Holy hell. _ Ryuji was way too close. 

“You know anything about guns and shit?” 

Akira shrugged. “A little.” He had a slight interest back home, which had bugged his parents to no end. Ryuji looked surprised. “For real?” he asked. “Well, there’s no use in just standin’ around, so let’s go inside already!” 

The manager behind the counter seemed less than pleased to see Akira and Ryuji, but he eventually let them look around. Akira had been unsure of what to use the money his father had given him on, but he  _ really  _ liked one of the pistols he saw, and his father’s money plus his own savings were more than enough to cover it…

“Damn, dude, you’re more of an enthusiast than I thought.”

Ryuji had accompanied Akira on the train ride back to Leblanc, and spent the whole ride marveling at Akira’s purchase. It was only an airsoft, but the details were so good that Akira was worried about what he would say if Sojiro found it. Whatever. He’d just hide it in the pile of stuff on the work desk that he still needed to clean. “By the way, d’you wanna go back to the castle again tomorrow?” Ryuji asked as they approached the cafe. 

Akira turned to look at him as he unlocked the door. Sojiro must have closed before he got home. “Why?” 

The fake blond shrugged. “Dunno, I kinda wanna test out those new weapons we got. Maybe see what else that cat thing has to say.” He leaned against the wall across from the door and fidgeted with a loose string on his sleeve. “Maybe it’ll tell us how we can take down Kamoshida.” It was silent for a minute as Akira thought it over. “Sure,” he finally answered. “Why not?”

Ryuji grinned. “Yes! Alright, after school tomorrow then?” Akira nodded, and Ryuji started walking away. “See ya tomorrow, dude!” he called, waving. Akira waved back at him, watching his friend turn the corner and disappear, his fake blond hair shining even brighter in the late afternoon sun. 

It felt nice to finally have a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> henlo
> 
> another update, because i just love writing ryuji so much. im trying so hard to keep this as slowburn as possible and not rush it but at the same time i wanna get to the pegoryu so bad that it's hard not to just skip everything lmfao
> 
> please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!


	8. Grey Lines

Ryuji was the only thing Akira could think about that night as he got ready for bed. He had been able to avoid Sojiro finding out about the gun, and once again was forced to help clean up the cafe in return for coming back late. Before he went to sleep, Akira tucked the model gun safely underneath a pile of books on the work desk, then laid down, thinking over what had happened that day. The rally, the obviously hurt volleyball players, the airsoft shop, Ryuji…

It didn’t matter. They’d go back to that castle and kick Kamoshida’s ass soon enough. There wasn’t much he could do until they had real-life, feasible evidence of the abuse, and it was frustrating that the volleyball team members wouldn’t fess up. Ryuji was so annoyed, too, considering how the guy had ruined Ryuji’s life. It just wasn’t fair. Akira just  _ had  _ to help him do something about it, right? Hell, the entire reason he was sent to Tokyo was for stopping a guy from forcing himself on her. Stopping a sleazy gym teacher who picked up high school girls in his car seemed like something Akira  _ needed  _ to do. 

For justice.

Not just for Ryuji.

For justice.

There was an especially gloomy feeling in the air the next day as Akira stepped off the platform and walked up to the school. It wasn’t raining, but the air felt heavy, and Akira noticed the usually chatty students around him were quiet and withdrawn. It almost bothered him. Akira had expected them to be talking nonstop about how the transfer student and That Sakamoto were in Shibuya buying guns yesterday. However, all he could hear were footsteps on pavement and the sounds of the city around him. Odd.

Ushimaru’s lecture about the three branches of Japanese government was so unbelievably boring that Akira felt like he was going to fall asleep at any moment. The teacher’s droning voice, the heavy feeling still hanging in the air, the sleepiness from waking up so early… Akira felt like he was going to fall asleep at any moment. 

Unfortunately, a certain someone didn’t see it that way.

“Are you going back to the Palace today?”

The fucking cat!

Akira jumped in his seat, quickly glanced around to make sure no one could see him, then looked down at his lap. Morgana, the not-cat from the castle, was here at Shujin, sitting in Akira’s desk. And he was a real cat. Who was talking.

“ _ What are you doing here?!”  _ Akira hissed, hoping desperately that no one would notice. Lucky for him, everyone was too sleepy to give him any confused or dirty looks. He looked back down at Morgana. “You and Blondie have obviously figured out that going back to the Palace is the best course of action. So, are you going back today or not?”

Akira was extremely confused. How did Morgana get in the classroom and into Akira’s desk without anyone noticing? And how was no one paying attention to him? The criminal transfer student was talking to a cat inside his desk during one of Ushimaru’s lectures- it sounded like perfect fuel for the Shujin rumor mill. And yet, not a single eye was on him, and Akira felt like he was going insane. “Why are you here?! Did you do something with your weird cat powers to make them not pay attention to me?!” he whispered. Morgana shook his head and started licking his paws. “You know, you and Blondie are on the right track. Although, just the three of us isn’t enough to take on Kamoshida… just one more person would be enough firepower.” Akira was more confused than ever. “What on earth are you talking about?!” he whispered through his teeth. “How did you even get in my d-”

“Hey, what’s she doing? That’s dangerous!”

A sudden collective gasp went through the room. Everyone had stood up to see what the commotion was; a student had gotten out of her seat to point at the window facing the courtyard, and as more and more students stood up and made their way towards the door, the louder they got. 

“Anyone know who that is?”

“What’s she doing up on the roof?!”

“Wait, isn’t that Suzui from the volleyball team?!”

The blonde girl with pigtails in front of Akira suddenly jumped out of her seat and ran out of the classroom, shoving past the crowds of students. Akira recognized her; it was the girl that had been in Kamoshida’s car- Ann, or something. Ignoring Morgana, who had jumped out of his desk and into his bag, Akira pursued her, now worried about what was happening. Through the sea of students clamoring to get close to the window, Akira could see someone standing on the roof of the practice building, looking down over the courtyard and the school, and Ann was pounding on the window, yelling at the girl to get down, and Akira blinked, and suddenly everyone was screaming and running, and he looked at the roof, and the girl wasn’t there anymore.

\----

“What did you do to Suzui?!”

Akira, Ryuji, and a blue-haired boy named Mishima were standing in the PE faculty office, and Ryuji wasn’t happy.

Right after the girl had been taken away by an ambulance, Ryuji noticed Mishima running away from the scene, suspected that he knew something about the situation, and ran after him, Akira following. After pressing him for information, he finally broke and admitted that everything Ryuji had suspected about Kamoshida abusing the volleyball team was true, and that yesterday, Kamoshida had called the Suzui girl down to his office out of the blue, and Mishima suspected that she had been raped. The moment the words left his mouth, Ryuji punched the wall, shouted in anger, then immediately took off towards the PE faculty office. Akira and Mishima followed him, and now they were here, watching Ryuji and Kamoshida stare at each other with looks that could curdle milk.

Kamoshida rolled his eyes. “None of your business, Sakamoto.” He stood up and leered at them, his hands on his hips. His black eyes met Akira’s, who scowled. “You’re that transfer student, aren’t you?” he sneered. Akira’s lip curled. “What’s it to you?” he shot back. Immediately, Kamoshida’s face reddened, and his hands curled into fists. “What did you just say to me, you little shit?!” His voice was low, and Ryuji, now completely ignored, took a few steps back. Akira heard Mishima whimper behind him. “I think you heard me,” he replied. His voice was barely higher than a whisper. Suddenly, Kamoshida raised his hand. Akira braced himself for the impact, but it didn’t come. Instead, Ryuji had grabbed Kamoshida by the arm and pulled him away, sending him falling onto the desk, spreading papers everywhere. “Get your hands off him!” Ryuji shouted. Akira fell backwards and onto the floor, shocked at Ryuji’s outburst and Kamoshida advancing at him- he hadn’t noticed before, but that man was  _ huge.  _ Those muscles definitely weren’t just for show. Speaking of Kamoshida, he was  _ pissed. _

“That is ENOUGH!” he shouted, standing up and pointing at Ryuji. “All three of you are going to be expelled!”

Ryuji, Akira, and Mishima all gasped. Akira felt his heart drop to his feet.  _ Expelled?! Already?! _

Shaking his head, Akira scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room. No fucking way. He couldn’t be expelled. It had only been three days. There was no way this fucking pervert teacher could get away with this. “There’s no use running!” he heard Kamoshida yelling from the office. “Your future’s already gone down the drain!” Akira stopped running and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily, his eyes closed. He could hear footsteps approaching him, but he had no more dread left to feel. However, the voice accompanying them was the opposite of what Akira had expected.

“You alright?”

It was Ryuji. Akira opened his eyes and laughed softly. It was only Ryuji. He turned to look at him, and was surprised to see that he didn’t look defeated or afraid; in fact, he looked bored, as if he had gone through this a thousand times already. “Wanna move to the courtyard?” he asked. “We can talk there.” Akira raised his eyebrows. “About what?” Ryuji looked behind them, as if he were afraid they were being watched, then back at Akira. “Just do it!” he hissed. “There’s something important I want to tell you.” Hesitant, but desperate to get some fresh air, Akira nodded, and followed him.

\----

“I’m in.”

“For real?!”

Once they had arrived at the vending machines in the courtyard, Ryuji suggested that he and Akira return to the strange castle. “We can’t let Kamoshida get away with what he did to Suzui!” he growled, slamming his fist against one of the machines. Akira nodded from his spot on the bench. “I know,” he replied, “but are you sure? We almost died the last time we were th-” 

Suddenly, Akira was interrupted by Ryuji’s hand over his mouth and the sound of footsteps approaching. “Shut up, stupid!” Ryuji hissed, looking up at whoever was approaching. It was Ann. Ryuji groaned. “What now?” 

Ann shot him a look that could curdle milk. “What are you two planning?” she asked. Her voice was icy. Ryuji narrowed his eyes at her. “Why do you want to know?” Akira pushed Ryuji’s hand away from his mouth and stood up. “Nothing that concerns you,” he said. Ann directed her glare away from Ryuji and instead at Akira. “You! I didn’t know you were suddenly friends with Sakamoto. What are you two planning?” Akira shook his head. “Nothing!” he hissed. Ann raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t seem like nothing. I heard you’re going to try to do something about Kamoshida.” Akira and Ryuji slowly nodded at her, not understanding what she meant. “So?” Ryuji asked. Ann looked ready to murder. “I want to go with you,” Ann said in a low voice. Ryuji and Akira glanced at each other, then back at Ann, who looked determined. Ryuji glanced at Akira again, a look of “should we tell her?” on his face. They both knew they didn’t have much time to be debating on whether or not they should tell her.  _ She can’t, it’s too dangerous!  _ Akira thought, trying his hardest to get the message to Ryuji without actually saying it. Fortunately, he must have had the same idea.

“No way,” Ryuji finally answered. Ann’s face turned red. “Why the hell not?!” she hissed. “Shiho tried to kill herself because of Kamoshida, and you’re not going to let you help me get back at him?” Akira gritted his teeth. “Listen, it’s not that we don’t want you to avenge your friend, it’s just-” he started, but Ann cut him off. “Out of all people, it’s  _ you  _ lecturing me?! You’re the delinquent transfer student!” Akira opened his mouth, ready to retort, but he felt Ryuji’s hand on his arm beginning to pull him away. “We can explain it to her later,” he whispered, dragging Akira off the bench and away from the vending machines. “Sorry, Takamaki, but we really think it’d be best if you let us do this alone,” he yelled from over his shoulder at her. “We uh, appreciate the offer though!”

\----

It took Akira and Ryuji almost no time at all to return to the alley in front of the school they had first entered the castle in. “How d’you get to that weird other world again?” Ryuji muttered as Akira pulled out his phone. “From that weird app, right?” He nodded. “You have to put in the keywords or something. I think I remember them…”

_ Kamoshida. Shujin Academy. Castle. _

_ Beginning navigation. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not updating! writing filler chapters is tedious and boring but i didn't want to just skip through all of that day or else ann's awakening wouldn't really have made any sense. also, i wanted more subtle pegoryu hehe enjoy


	9. No More What Ifs

Morgana was waiting for them at the castle gates.

“You should have told me you were coming!” he snapped. “I’ve been here for hours waiting for you!” Ryuji narrowed his eyes as he loaded his shotgun. “We were busy watchin’ a girl trying to kill herself, you jerk!” he shot back. Akira nodded. “That just made us want to come back here more,” he grumbled. “Let’s get going already. How do we get rid of this place?” 

Morgana grinned and rubbed his paws together. “Good, you’re adapting!” he said. “Follow me, rookies!” With that, he turned around and sped off to the vent shaft they’d escaped from the other day. “Who died and elected him leader?” Ryuji mumbled through his teeth. Akira said nothing as they followed Morgana through the hallways of the castle, ignoring the mass of Shadows in the main hall repeating their praise to Kamoshida over and over again (making Ryuji gag). Finally, they reached a Safe Room, where Morgana explained to them that in order to make the castle disappear, they needed to find Kamoshida’s Treasure, which was the reason why the castle existed at all. “Can we elect Akira as the leader?” he asked as Morgana jumped off the table and headed towards the door. He turned around, looking annoyed. “Why?” he asked. “Joker barely knows anything about the Metaverse.”

Akira arched his eyebrows. “Joker?” Morgana grinned. “Yup! It’s your codename! It’d be dangerous running around the Metaverse using your real name, and you’re like our trump card when it comes to fighting, so you’re Joker!” Akira shrugged. “I don’t hate it,” he said. Morgana placed his paws on his hips proudly, ignoring Akira and Ryuji’s confused stares. “What’s mine?” Ryuji asked. Morgana placed a paw on his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded at him. “You can be Thug.” 

Ryuji’s face turned from confused to murderous. “What?! Hell no! Let me choose it!” Morgana rolled his eyes. “Your reaction is exactly why I picked it, but sure, let’s see what you come up with.” Ryuji ignored him, thinking hard. “I got it! I got this skull mask, don’t I? I can be Skull!” He grinned at Akira, who gave him a thumbs-up. It suited him. Morgana shrugged. “Whatever,” he said. “The real question is, what will my codename be?” 

Akira tapped his chin. “Furball?” The not-cat glared at him. “No!” He turned to Ryuji, who was smirking. “Does Blondie have any ideas for me?” Ryuji ignored the nickname and shrugged. “How ‘bout… Mona?” 

Morgana sighed. They were wasting time. “Fine. From here on out, we are Joker, Skull, and Mona.” He turned back to Akira, who was completely distracted by a noise coming from outside. “What is it?” Morgana asked, noticing him not paying attention to them at all. “I hear something,” he murmured, leaning against the distorted door. “It sounds like someone talking.” He turned back to Morgana and Ryuji, who looked worried. “Should we go check it out?” 

Morgana narrowed his eyes. “Did they sound like they were in trouble?” Akira shrugged. “A little bit.” The not-cat jumped in the air and ran towards the door. “Well, what are we waiting for?!” he hissed. “Let’s go!” Akira looked at Ryuji, who seemed nervous. “Are you ready?” he asked. Ryuji nodded, but his eyes looked slightly afraid. However, he said nothing and tightened his grip on his weapons, then followed Akira and Morgana out of the safe room and down a hallway.

“Is this some kind of filming? What is this!?” 

_ That didn’t sound good.  _

“Look, I’ll APOLOGIZE for touching the armor without permission! Will you just let me go?!”

_ Wait, that voice… _

“If you don’t let me go, I’m gonna call the cops!”

_ She can’t have followed us… _

“Hurry!” Akira barked at Ryuji and Morgana, who looked surprised at his sudden determination. “I think I know who that is!” 

When they reached the end of the hallway, the three were greeted with the sight of Ann Takamaki, the girl who sat in front of Akira in homeroom, strapped to a St. Andrew’s cross surrounded by Kamoshida’s guard shadows. Speaking of Kamoshida, he was there, next to a guard shadow that was larger than the rest, and also gold. “Urgh, you knaves again?!” he snapped, seeing Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana entering the room. Takamaki looked terrified. “What the hell is going on here?!” she cried, struggling furiously. “Isn’t this the school?” Kamoshida ignored her, instead focusing on the group of Shadows. “I can’t believe you mistook  _ my  _ Ann for someone like her!” 

At his words, someone walked up to him. Someone very familiar looking. 

It was Takamaki. Not the one struggling in front of them, but obviously it was supposed to be her, except she was wearing a very revealing leopard-print bikini and a cat-eared crown. She immediately threw her arms around Kamoshida’s neck, squealing. The real Takamaki made a gagging sound.

“WHAT?!  _ TWO  _ Takamakis?!” Ryuji shouted. Morgana lightly hit his leg. “No, you idiot! Look!” He pointed at the fake, who was completely unfazed by the shouting. “That one obviously isn’t Lady Ann!” Ryuji blinked a few times, then scowled at Kamoshida, who simply smirked back at him. Meanwhile, the real Ann had a look of pure bewilderment on her face. “Hold on, is that Sakamoto?” she asked, leaning forward slightly. “And the new kid?” 

Kamoshida interrupted her by grabbing a sword from one of the Shadows and walking up to her slowly, licking his lips. “Now, how should I play with you?” he asked, his voice slimy and vulgar-sounding. Ann backed away as far as she could, but it did nothing to help her. Kamoshida placed the tip of the sword on Ann’s jacket zipper. “Maybe I’ll start with her clothes…” 

“No!” Akira shouted, stepping forward. Everyone gasped, and Kamoshida turned around, his face livid. “I don’t remember asking  _ you  _ to interrupt my fun!” he spat. Akira ignored him, and looked up at Ann. “Are you just going to let him toy with you like that?” he yelled. “This guy’s a fucking pervert! Didn’t your friend try to kill herself because of him?!” 

Ann’s eyes widened, and her expression changed from shock, then to anger, then to understanding. “You’re right,” she murmured. “I can’t let him treat me like this.” She scowled at Kamoshida, who seemed unfazed. In fact, he almost looked bored. “What are you gonna do?” he sneered. “Fight as much as you want. You’re not going anywhere.” He took a step closer to Ann and gently caressed her chin, causing her to screw up her face in disgust. Kamoshida laughed softly. “You’re  _ mine. _ ” Ann began struggling harder as Kamoshida leaned in closer and closer, and Akira felt his grip on his weapons tightening. “Aren’t you going to fight back?!” he shouted. “Don’t you get it?! You’re not his slave! Don’t let him get his way!” 

Kamoshida turned around, obviously very annoyed that Akira kept interrupting him. “God, you thieves are so annoying! Once Takamaki is done, you’re next, you hear me?!” Ryuji stepped forward. “No way! Takamaki, you’re worth more than this!” 

“You’re right.”

**_whoosh._ **

“Huh?” Kamoshida spun around, now confused. “What was that, you little cunt?” Ann didn’t respond. Her head hung low, and she was breathing hard. “Up until now, I’d always just given up. I ducked my head without saying a word.

“Kamoshida’s persistent flirting, holding Shiho’s starter position hostage if I didn’t agree, all those stupid, baseless rumors everybody spread because of my looks…” Suddenly, she jerked her head up, and in a flash of blue flames, a bright red cat-like mask appeared on her face. “I’m done holding back!” she shouted, then directed her furious gaze at Kamoshida. 

**_“You’ve pissed me off, you son of a bitch!”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii i know it's been a while since i've updated and this is a really short chapter but i wanted to update to let y'all know that this story isn't dead. i'll update again soon, but in the meantime, please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thank you so much!


	10. Let's Dance, Boys!

The next thing Ann did was gasp.

She started struggling more and more, and Akira could tell she was hearing a voice in her head. “You’re right,” she said as the shackles around her wrists and ankles broke away. “No more holding back!” Another flash of blue flame, and suddenly she was dressed in a bright red latex bodysuit and dark red thigh-high boots, with pink gloves. Akira noticed Ryuji’s eyes widen. Ann ripped her new mask off with a flourish and behind her appeared what must have been her Persona; a tall, pink-skinned woman with curly black pigtails wearing a Spanish-style dress and carrying what Akira could only describe as two men in suits with pink hearts replacing their heads connected to spiky vines. As she stared down at Kamoshida with fire in her eyes, Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana stepped behind her as Ann pointed dramatically at the now furious man, holding a shiny red whip. “You stole everything from Shiho. But I won’t play your games anymore!

_**“I will rob you of everything!** _  
_**Dance, Carmen!”** _

Without wasting another second, she jumped forward and snatched a sword from one of the guards, then ran up to the fake Ann and swung the sword at it, making it disappear into a cloud of black smoke. Next, Ann smacked her whip against the shocked guards, while her Persona shot fire at them. Morgana was watching her, completely entranced. “What a fantastic and meow-velous girl!” he said, awestruck. Meanwhile, Kamoshida sent the gold-colored guard at them, and the four watched as it dissolved into a huge, disgusting-looking demon with huge eyes sitting on a toilet. Akira wanted to gag. This was Kamoshida’s best guard? A demon sitting on a fucking toilet? 

“A lass that dares to defy King Kamoshida’s love?” it cried. “Never been heard of before!” Ann scoffed and flipped her hair. “As if! That jerk only sees women as sexual outlets!” She pulled out a rusty-looking submachine gun and pointed it at the creature. “Outside of school, that asshole is nothing but a creepy old man!” 

Within a matter of seconds, the demon was defeated, Kamoshida had run off, and Ann was left kneeling on the floor, with Akira and Ryuji standing over her. “What just happened?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Where are we? And what am I wearing?!” She suddenly scrambled to cover her exposed chest, her eyes squeezed shut. Akira sighed. “It’ll be too much to explain now,” he grumbled. “Just calm down.” Steadying herself, Ann stood up, leaning on one of the guards’ dropped swords for balance. “ _How_ am I supposed to be calm?!” she yelled, grabbing Ryuji’s shoulder for support. Morgana shook his head. “Just come with us, okay?” he said. “We’ll explain everything.”

\----

With the battle over, the four of them had finally returned from the Metaverse, Akira was standing at the Aoyama platform with Morgana in his school bag, watching Ryuji walking back from a vending machine carrying two bottles of soda. “Which one d’you want?” he asked, holding them out. “Whichever one’s not carbonated,” Ann breathed. She sounded exhausted. Ryuji grinned awkwardly. “Uhh, they both are…” Ann giggled and reached for the bottle of sparkling lemonade. “Then.. that one, I guess.” Morgana suddenly poked his head out of Akira’s bag, obviously hearing them. “Hey, what about me?” Ann giggled again.

“So, I really am talking to a cat, huh? This is so weird…” Akira grimaced. “Get used to it then,” he said. Ann frowned and placed a hand on her hip. “That’s no way to talk to a lady!” she scolded mockingly. Akira and Ryuji both laughed, while Ann rolled her eyes and took a sip of her lemonade. “Boys.”

After exchanging contact information and heading their separate ways, Akira asked Morgana a question. 

“So, where are you gonna go now?” 

Morgana scoffed, as if Akira had asked him a question with an incredibly obvious answer. “With you, duh! It’ll be the fastest way to reach Ryuji and Lady Ann!” 

Akira blinked in shock. Morgana? Stay with him?! Akira had always liked cats, sure, but Sakura-san was already pissed at him for simply existing. Asking him if a cat could freeload with him was practically a deathwish. “No way,” he said, shaking his head. “That guy is gonna kill me.” Morgana looked confused. “Who?” he asked. He doesn’t know, stupid. Akira thought to himself. “Right,” he sighed. “I live in a cafe. The guy who owns it already hates me. He’d throw me out if I asked him if you could live with me.” Morgana seemed not to care. “So don’t tell him then!” he snapped, dropping back into Akira’s bag. “I’m staying with you, and that’s final!”

Akira felt his stomach drop as he entered Leblanc, the cheery ring of the bell doing nothing to calm his nerves. “Good evening,” he said quietly, ignoring Sojiro’s glare and the interested gaze of the turquoise-haired woman sitting at the counter. She stood up to leave as Akira passed by her, pushing the money across the counter towards the tired-looking man and saying a quiet “Goodnight” to him before leaving. “You’re home late,” Sojiro said, stopping Akira from starting up the stairs. “I know,” he said quietly, then quickly realizing he was being rude to the man housing him. “Sorry.” Sojiro simply huffed in response. Desperately trying not to let the night end on a sour note, Akira tried to start a conversation. “Who was that?” he asked. Sojiro looked up, confused. “The punk-looking chick.” 

Sakura-san chuckled softly and took a drag of his cigarette. “Oh, her?” he asked. Akira nodded. “She runs a clinic down the street. Word is she makes her own medicines, but you have to go through weird examinations to get it.” He shrugged. “They’re just rumors though.” Akira nodded again, slower this time, thinking. Suddenly, Morgana spoke up (or at least tried to), wriggling around in his bag. “Sounds suspicious, but maybe the medicine could help us in the Palace!” At the sound of Morgana’s voice, Sojiro jumped slightly. “Did you hear a cat meowing just now?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Akira shook his head. “Nope.” 

Sojiro shrugged. “Whatever. I’m gonna lock up. Don’t start any fires or sneak out.” With that, he turned off the lights and left, locking the door behind him. Akira quickly ran up the stairs, letting Morgana out of his bag when he reached the top. “So this is where you live, huh?” the cat asked, looking around the dusty room. Akira nodded. “It’s a dump, I know,” he grumbled. “Turn around, I need to get dressed.” 

Once he had finished dressing and packing his things for the next day, Akira flopped down on his bed, exhausted. Morgana jumped up next to him. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked. Akira raised his eyebrows. “Why are you asking me?” Morgana leaned forward and stretched, yawning. “Because you’re the leader, duh!” Akira opened his mouth to argue, but the cat kept talking. “If it wasn’t for you, Lady Ann wouldn’t have awakened to her Persona! It’s clear that you know your stuff! Blondie is too dumb for the job, and Lady Ann is new at this, so therefore, you’re the leader!” He stuck his chest out proudly, smiling. “Now, what’s the plan?” 

Akira sighed, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Fuck, I don’t know!” he groaned. “Talk to the others about it first?” Morgana ignored Akira’s language and nodded. “That seems as good a place to start as any. For now, let’s get some sleep.” With that, he curled up at the end of the bed and closed his eyes. Akira ran his hands through his hair, trying to process what had happened that day. A girl tries to kill herself, girl’s best friend discovers a crazy other dimension based on cognition, girl discovers she has insane powers, girl makes three new friends, one being a cat. Or, not a cat. Whatever. Who fucking cared. Suddenly, Akira’s phone buzzed, snapping him out of his reverie. Picking it up, he saw it was from Ryuji. Akira smiled. Of course.

April 13th 2016 23:15

Ryuji: So are we meeting up tomorrow? We totally gotta have a talk now that takamaki’s in on it too!  
Akira: yes but i havent decided where  
Akira: itll probably be the school roof  
Ryuji: Awesome! I’ll let her know!  
Ryuji: G'night, dude!  
Akira: night

Putting his phone back down on the shelf and rolling over in bed, Akira kept smiling. It only took a few brushes with death, an attempted suicide, a pedophile teacher, and an alternate reality, but maybe, just maybe, Akira had finally found real friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooo panther is finally here! this chapter was kinda hard to write but i still finished it! 
> 
> please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!


	11. Heat Riser

The next morning, Akira was greeted downstairs with a hot bowl of curry and a mug of coffee. “Morning,” Sojiro said as he watched Akira sit down and start eating. Once he had finished, Akira pushed the empty dishes away and stretched. “Man, that smells good!” Morgana said from inside Akira’s bag. “The owner must be a good cook!” Akira nudged the bag, hoping to shut Morgana up. “ _ Shut up, you fucking furball!”  _ he hissed, his voice barely higher than a whisper. Sojiro must have heard him, because he leaned over the counter to see Akira’s squirming school bag. He then looked at Akira, who felt his face reddening. “So, are you gonna tell me what’s in that bag?” Sojiro huffed, scowling. Akira gulped. “Hang on, I can expl-” he started, but before he could finish, the man reached over and grabbed the bag, causing Morgana to yowl in surprise. Sojiro’s eyes widened, and he unzipped the bag and dumped it out on the counter, the cat landing in the middle with a low  _ thump. _

Next out of the bag came Akira’s pocket knife, cigarettes, pencils and pens, schoolwork, lighter, phone charger, and lockpick. Sojiro scowled at him, pushing Morgana off the counter and dropping the bag back down. “Care to explain?” he asked. Akira felt himself beginning to sweat.  _ Think of a cover story, you stupid moron, think!  _ “Um, he followed me home from school yesterday, and he was in my bag because I wanted to take him to where they feed the strays, and-” he started, talking as fast as he could, but Sojiro stopped him. “Listen, I’m not gonna ask about any of the stuff you have in here, because that’s obviously none of my business. However,” he gestured at Morgana, “I wish you’d told me about the cat last night. I would have at least given it something to eat.” He then scratched Morgana’s chin, which Akira raised his eyebrows at. “Now, get your stuff back in your bag and get to school,” Sojiro said. “The only thing that concerns me is you getting in trouble, and God knows you’ve done that enough times already.”

\---

“You need to be more quiet,” Akira grumbled when Morgana stuck his head out of the bag on the train. “I thought he was going to throw me out right there.” The cat just rolled his eyes. “Who cares? He likes me, doesn’t he?” he said smugly. Akira glared at him. “That’s not the point!” he snapped. “Why do you need to come with me to school again?” Morgana scoffed. “To talk to Lady Ann and Ryuji, of course! Haven’t you forgotten our meeting?” Akira sighed. “Right. That.” He was not looking forward to explaining to his teachers why he had a cat in his bag when he was inevitably caught. 

Surprisingly, the day went off without a single person noticing Morgana, not even when Ryuji joined Akira and Ann for lunch and Ann fed him some of her sushi. When they met on the roof, Morgana immediately jumped out of Akira’s bag and onto one of the desks cluttered together. “So, why are we here again?” Ann asked, opening a can of grape soda and sitting down next to the cat. “We’re here for our first official Phantom Thieves meeting!” Morgana answered, sticking his chest out proudly. Akira rolled his eyes. “Phantom Thieves?” he asked. The cat nodded. “Yup! It’s what I call those who sneak into Palaces and stylishly steal Treasure! What do you think?” Akira shrugged. “Sounds good to me,” he said. Ryuji and Ann nodded.

“Okay, so when do you think it’ll be a good time to go back to the Palace?” Akira asked. Ann blinked in surprise. “Really? You wanna do that today?” she asked. Ryuji nodded enthusiastically, but stopped when Akira spoke up again. “Did I say that we were going today?” The three suddenly quieted, which made Akira feel slightly strange.  _ They’re actually listening to me?  _ “We can go today if that’s what you want, but I don’t want to force you to do anything,” he continued. The way the three in front of him looked at him made him feel even stranger. They seemed to be actually listening to him like a true leader, like someone who knew what they were doing and had everything planned. Basically the opposite of how Akira actually felt.

They eventually decided to go back to the castle the next day, to give them more time to prepare. As he watched Ann leave, Akira contemplated whether or not to visit the doctor Sojiro had been talking about the previous night. Ryuji must have noticed his eyes glazing over, because Akira felt his hand on his shoulder, and was suddenly snapped out of his reverie by Ryuji’s voice in his ear. “Hey, dude, you there? Hello? Hellooooo?”

Akira blinked in surprise, suddenly brought back to the school roof. “What?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. Ryuji laughed. “You were so zoned out, I’m pretty sure you went to a whole other dimension!” He laughed at his own joke for a second, then frowned. “Seriously though, what were you starin’ off for?” he asked. “You okay?” Akira couldn’t help but laugh at the fake blond’s sudden concern, then dig around in his bag for a cigarette. Despite the mostly uneventful day, he felt tired. Not too tired to stay on the roof with Ryuji for a little longer, though.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

Akira jumped slightly and turned to look at Ryuji. He looked slightly uncomfortable, as if he was a guilty child accused of breaking expensive china. “What is it?” Akira asked. Ryuji shifted in his seat awkwardly and avoided Akira’s eyes. “Why do you do… that?” he finally asked. 

Akira blinked in surprise again, confused. “Do what?” Before Ryuji could answer, he lightly waved the hand holding his cigarette. “This?” Ryuji nodded, and Akira shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, then realized he should probably give Ryuji a better answer. “I mean, I started doing it when I was thirteen or so, but only whenever my parents pissed me off. I would steal one of my dad’s, and smoke it leaning out my bedroom window. The house already smelled like it, so it wasn’t like I needed to hide it that badly. I’m pretty sure my parents expected me to start doing it anyways.” He finished his spiel with another drag on his cigarette, then looked at Ryuji, who seemed uncomfortable. “Why do you ask?”

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno, I just was wonderin’.” He sighed and looked up at the sky, frowning. “Figured it’d be good to know you a little more or somethin’, and you’ve been doin’ that every time we hang out, so…” he trailed off, fidgeting with his shoelaces. “Sorry.” Akira suddenly felt extremely guilty, and stomped out his cigarette with his foot. “No, don’t apologize,” he said, placing a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder.  _ Fuck, was that too much?  _ “Do you not like it or something?”  _ Of course he doesn’t! Why else would he ask you?  _ Ryuji shook his head and smiled. “Nah, it’s nothin’ like that. I’ll tell ya later.” He stood up and stretched, glancing at the door. “It’s gettin’ late,” he said, picking up his school bag. “I’m gonna head out. My mom’s probably worried about me.” With that, he smiled, waved to Akira, and left, closing the door behind him. 

“You know we still have to go to the Palace tomorrow, right?” came Morgana’s voice from Akira’s feet. Startled, he looked down to see the cat climbing back into his school bag, an insufferably smug look on his face. “I heard everything you and Ryuji were talking about,” he said. Akira glared at him. “So what?” he snapped. Morgana just continued grinning smugly, which made Akira want to take off and leave him in the bag on the roof. “So, it means that there are people you care about now. People you’d stomp out your precious cigarettes for.” 

Akira’s face was redder than Joker’s gloves the entire train ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you feel it? the budding pegoryu in the air? because i sure can ;)
> 
> a bit of a shorter chapter today, but i wanted to update, and also include some ~bonding~ between nasty crimeboy akira and sunshine boy ryuji. you'll get a longer chapter soon, though. promise. 
> 
> please comment/kudos if you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	12. Desire

“So, what am I going to be called?”

Akira, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana were standing at the gates of the castle the next day, Akira having taken the previous day to finally talk to that strange doctor in his neighborhood and buy some medicine from her. She wasn’t too persistent on his reason for needing them, his excuse being that he needed them for school, but her medicines were more expensive than he thought, leaving his wallet empty as he walked home. Meanwhile, Ann seemed like she was more than ready to continue venturing through the Palace with them. Well, as soon as they figured out a codename for her first.

“Well, you’ve got the mask, so… cat woman?” Ryuji suggested, shrugging. Ann glared at him. “Lame! Next?” Morgana tapped his chin (or, where his chin would be) thoughtfully. “Cougar?” Ryuji snickered, earning him another jab in the chest from Ann. “No way!” she huffed, then turned to Akira, who tried to hide his amusement at the situation. “What about you, Joker? Got any ideas?” 

Akira shrugged. “I dunno,” he started, looking Ann up and down. If a red latex suit with thigh-high boots was her idea of what a rebel looked like, then she had quite a lot of explaining to do. She definitely had a fierce “don’t fuck with me” type of attitude, but didn’t like it being pointed out. Her mask was definitely cat-like; not like a housecat, but still sleek and smooth. Almost like a…

“Panther?” he suggested. Ann looked slightly surprised, then smiled. “Yeah! I like that! Panther it is!” 

  
  


\---

After deciding Ann’s code name and finding another entrance into the castle (a broken window and piles of crates stacked on top of each other), Akira was about to lead them inside, but he was stopped by the sound of clanking metal and a door opening. Curious, he turned around to see something that caused his stomach to drop to his feet; an open barred door, bluish fog surrounding it, and one of those horrible white-haired twins standing in front of it. She looked up from her clipboard expectantly, then stepped to the side when she saw Akira standing there. “Come inside,” she said, her voice monotone. “We have much to discuss.” Knowing he didn’t have much of a choice, he stepped forward, dreading what was to come.

“We are going to have to execute your Persona.”

“Wait, what?!”

The freakish old man’s smile didn’t flicker as Akira shook the bars of the cell door indignantly. “What the hell do you mean, get rid of him? Why?!” The twin with her hair done in buns smacked her baton against the door, but Akira didn’t care. The bizarre old man nodded. “Indeed. This is a crucial step in completing your rehabilitation.” He gestured towards the twins as if telling them to get started, but Akira wasn’t finished. None of this made any sense at all. “Hey, wait a second!” he shouted, causing the twins to stop. “You haven’t told me  _ why  _ I need to do this execution shit! What does it do for me?!” One of the twins raised her baton again, but Igor interrupted her. “I suppose I should explain the execution process to you in detail,” he said, sounding almost bored. “Executing two Personas creates stronger, more powerful ones. It is almost like discarding old personalities to make room for new ones. Now,” he gestured behind him at two huge guillotines (how did Akira not notice them before?!), his unbreaking grin sending chills up Akira’s spine. “Are your Personas ready for the execution?”

Akira blinked in confusion. Personas, plural? He only had one! “What do you mean, Personas?” he asked. “I’ve only got one. Was I supposed to get more when I ripped my face off a few days ago?” The twin with the baton looked like she had been smacked. “You mean to tell me you haven’t collected ANY new Personas since you first awakened?” she spluttered, her one yellow eye wide in shock. Akira nodded. “Was I supposed to…?” he said slowly, regretting it when she smacked her baton against his fingers. “OF COURSE YOU WERE, YOU INCOMPETENT PRISONER!” she shouted, stomping her foot on the ground. “You were supposed to have brought back at least  _ one  _ new Persona with you by now!” Akira was absolutely dumbfounded. How was he supposed to have known that? 

“Calm down, Caroline,” the other twin said, maintaining her monotone voice. “He may be completely ignorant of what his tasks are, but that does not concern either of us.” She then turned to Akira, fidgeting with her clipboard and ignoring her now red-faced sister. “Inmate,” she said, looking him in the eyes, “This conversation is over. You are to go back to the Palace and retrieve at least one more Persona. Return to us only when you have it.” 

When Akira returned to the castle gates, he was met with the confused faces of Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana. “What?” he asked. Ryuji scoffed. “Dude, you were just standin’ there and starin’ off into space for like, five minutes! Right?” He then turned to the others, who nodded. “It was like you were in another dimension or something,” Ann added. “What was that?” Akira wanted to explain, but a voice inside his head told him not to.  _ You have more important things to worry about,  _ it said, and he knew it was right. “Never mind,” he told them. “I’ll explain later. For now,” he gestured at the castle, “let’s tear this shithole apart.”

\--- 

As the four of them ventured deeper through the castle, Akira, Ryuji, Morgana, and Ann all learned new things about both themselves and each other that they never thought they’d find out. For one, Akira found it very easy to be threatening towards the Shadows when he fought them, and he was even able to persuade a few of them (one of those fairy things and a jack-o-lantern, to be specific) to come with him so he could use their powers. However, he liked his main Persona, Arsene, the most.

Despite talking big, Morgana seemed about as experienced in battle as the rest of the team, being caught off guard by powerful ones (“Savage Shadows”, they were called) and not knowing the different strengths and weaknesses of the enemies that he claimed to have known. His Persona, Zorro, looked like a big black Dorito with legs and a sword, as pointed out by Ryuji, which earned him a jab in the arm with Morgana’s weird sword. 

Every new room they entered strengthened their wills. The decorations featured large sculptures of bodies making sexual poses, rose petals, nude statues, and paintings of Kamoshida looking gallant and heroic, all of which made Ryuji and Ann angrier with every step they took. Akira was just weirded out and confused. How the  _ hell  _ was this creep still a teacher? They were all equal amounts disgusted when they found a hidden room dedicated to creepy pictures of Shiho Suzui, complete with candles, rose petals, and the St. Andrew’s Cross that Ann had been trapped in before. At one point, Ryuji stopped and asked Ann if she was okay, as she seemed slightly shaken at the contents of the room. However, she nodded, telling them that she was going to make Kamoshida have nightmares for the rest of his life. They kept going. 

Eventually, after many long hours of sneaking through hallways, hiding behind statues, battling enemies, and stopping security traps, Morgana announced that they had almost found the Treasure. “And what does stealing it do again?” Ann asked, resting her elbows on the table. They were going over a map they had found in a Safe Room, and everyone was exhausted. Akira wanted nothing more than to go back to the cafe and sleep, no matter how angry Sojiro would be at him for coming home late. “The Treasure is the root of the Palace,” Morgana explained. “It’s the physical embodiment of the Ruler’s distorted desires. Stealing the Treasure without killing the Shadow will make the Palace collapse, and the Ruler’s distorted desires will most likely disappear. They won’t be able to live with what they’ve done, and will most likely confess to all their crimes.” The cat finished his spiel proudly and placed his paws on his hips, standing up straight on the table. “Any questions?” When there were none, he rolled up the map and placed it in one of his pockets, then jumped off the table and went up to the door. “Now, is everyone ready?” he asked. They all nodded. “Good,” he said, grinning.

“We’re almost there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii here's an update
> 
> happy halloween and merry christmas
> 
> can you tell that i absolutely love arsene and i hated having to get rid of him because i really do and i will forever be angry that he's one of the coolest looking personas and i still had to get rid of him


	13. Treasure

The Treasure Room was  _ huge. _

Every square inch seemed to be covered in gold, with piles of gold coins, jewelry, gems, and other glamorous-looking items everywhere they looked. Akira, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana stepped in cautiously, taking in their shiny surroundings. At the center of the room was something Akira could only describe as a hazy-looking blob, shining and sparkling. It didn’t seem to have a shape, yet Morgana immediately jumped up onto a tall pile of coins and placed his paws on his hips triumphantly. “This is it! The treasure!”

Ryuji arched his eyebrows. “Really? That sparkly blob of nothin’?” Morgana nodded. “Yep! Now we just have to send the calling card so we can steal it!” 

Despite his confident nature, neither Akira, Ryuji, or Ann were any less confused. “Calling card?” Ann asked, scratching her head. Akira kicked at a pile of coins next to him, trying to put the pieces together. They’d have to use this calling card thing to tell Kamoshida that they were going to steal his Treasure, which was that weird shapeless blob. But why was  _ that thing  _ his Treasure? 

Morgana seemed to have read his mind. “The Treasure hasn’t materialized yet because Kamoshida doesn’t perceive it as being in danger. We need to warn him that we’re stealing his distorted desires, and then the Treasure will have a form so we can steal it.” He then jumped down from his pile of coins and headed back towards the door. “Come on, rookies. Time to go home!” Akira rolled his eyes and walked faster. “I thought I was the leader,” he said, pushing the door open. Morgana scoffed. “You are! I just happen to know more about this than you do.” He then rummaged around in one of his fanny packs and then pulled something out, then handed it to Akira. It was a grappling hook; not the gun type, but the kind that Akira would need to strap to his wrist and unravel. “Here!” Morgana said, grinning. “I’m sure this’ll help us a lot in the future!” Akira stuffed the thing in one of his coat pockets. He didn’t know what prompted Morgana to remember that he wanted to give him a grappling hook, or how he had been able to fit it in his little fanny pack before, but he decided he’d save those questions for later.  _ Although _ , Akira thought as he led his friends safely out of the castle and back into the real world,  _ I’d really like some answers soon. _

\---

_ Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust. We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready. From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. _

\---

“What’s this? A calling card?”

“Somebody came here and put these up before school!”

“Did Mr. Kamoshida do something?”

“Phantom Thieves?”

The next day, Akira could hardly find his way through the horde of confused students crowding around the bulletin boards. They were covered in copies of the calling card, which had been written by Ryuji and posted around the school by Ann, because it would look suspicious if Akira was at Shujin early and they couldn’t trust Ryuji to wake up on time to do it before anyone else showed up. 

“Whaddya think? Cool, right?” 

Ryuji had arrived, and was trying hard to conceal his grin at the amount of attention the calling card was getting. Akira smiled. “It looks and sounds great,” he said, and meant it. He knew how much Ryuji hated Kamoshida and how he had ruined Ryuji’s life, along with the poor kids on the volleyball teams, which was why he let Ryuji be the one to write the card and design a logo for them, which Akira liked. It was a little sloppy-looking, but it was their first operation out of what Akira assumed would be many, so he didn’t think much of it. However, Morgana, who had been hiding in Akira’s school bag, seemed hell-bent on giving Ryuji a hard time for everything he did. 

“It sounded like a little kid trying to sound serious,” he said, poking his head out of the bag. “The logo is lacking, too.” Ryuji scowled at him, and Akira gently pushed him back into the bag. “Will you quit being such a dick to him?” Akira whispered, hoping Morgana could still hear him. The cat didn’t answer. Ryuji didn’t seem to care though, leaning in close to the bag to try to get Morgana to answer, which meant leaning in close to Akira.  _ Holy shit.  _ He was about to say something, but stopped and quickly took a step back when he heard an angry yet familiar voice approaching.

“ _ Who the hell did this?!” _

Kamoshida was storming through the crowds, waving one of the many bright red cards in his hand. “Was it you?!” he shouted, grabbing a student by the arm, then letting them go. “Or was it you two?!” he yelled, pointing at Akira and Ryuji.  _ Shit.  _ “What makes you say that?” Akira asked, crossing his arms. Kamoshida looked like he was about to kill him on the spot. He opened his mouth to start yelling again, but stopped himself, seemingly remembering that there would be more than one witness if he tried hurting a student again. Instead, he took a breath, then relaxed, crumpling up the card and stuffing it in his pocket. “It’s not like it matters,” he spat, turning around and starting to leave. “You two will be expelled soon, anyways.”

As he walked away and the crowds of students began to thin, Akira noticed Ann making her way towards them. “Do you think it had any effect on him?” she asked, looking around nervously, as if she was expecting Kamoshida to appear behind them and try to get them in trouble again. Akira nodded. “Definitely.” Morgana stuck his head out of the bag, looking up at them nervously. “Are you rookies ready?” he asked, which made Akira and Ryuji roll their eyes. “We’ve been ready!” they said. Ann nodded, clenching her hands into fists. “I’m more than ready. I’m going to make him pay for what he did to Shiho.” 

As the bell rang and they went to their classes, Akira couldn’t think of anything except for what he was about to do. Morgana had mentioned the possibility of Kamoshida dying if they messed up, but as he remembered the look on Ryuji and Ann’s faces as they stared into the eyes of the man that had ruined their lives, he knew his mind was set on doing this. It was a risk they were willing to take. Ann’s friend had been sexually abused by this scumbag for who knows how long, Ryuji’s future had been torn apart in front of his eyes, and Akira found himself being reminded of the drunk man back in his hometown, the surge of anger he had felt watching the helpless woman try to defend herself, and the deep voice that had spoken to him back on that first day as he watched his friend fighting for his life. His mind was set. As the final bell rang and he saw Ann and Ryuji waiting for him outside of the classroom, Akira knew what he had to do.

“Yo, you ready?” Ryuji asked as Akira stepped out of the classroom. He nodded, and led his friends out of the school and into the alleyway that he and Ryuji had discovered the Palace in. He pulled out his phone and opened that bizarre app, and grinned as he felt the world around him begin to slow down.

“ **_It’s showtime._ ** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiii sorry for the sloppy chapter i just really wanted to update this
> 
> i wish everyone wasn't so fucking mean to ryuji all the time i swear im gonna make everyone be nice to him in this fic if its the last thing i do. i have no idea how i'm going to write the boss battle scene though, but i'll cross that bridge when i come to it i guess
> 
> if you enjoyed, PLEASE comment/kudos! it really makes me happy knowing that people enjoy what i write!  
> thank you for reading!


	14. Asmodeus

“A  _ crown?!” _

Akira wasn’t really sure what else he expected Kamoshida’s treasure to be. The thing was gigantic; made of shiny gold and embellished with red and violet gems, floating above the piles of coins and various other valuable objects strewn about the room. Morgana gasped when he saw it, and ran towards it as soon as the door opened, startling Akira, Ryuji, and Ann as they stepped inside. “Treasure! Treasure! Treasureeee!” the cat squealed, trying to hug the crown but slipping off of it and falling onto the piles of gold. “Alright, that’s enough, you stupid cat!” Ryuji grumbled, grabbing him and pulling him away from the crown.

Ann crossed her arms and looked down at the confused cat. “What  _ was  _ all of that?” she asked. Akira shrugged. “Must have thought it was catnip.” He looked up at the crown, which was still suspended in the air, wondering how they were going to get it out of the castle without being noticed. The security had been heavily increased due to the effects of the calling card, which Ryuji was very proud of. 

“How are we gonna get this huge thing outta here?” Ryuji asked, looking at it up and down. Akira shrugged. “I guess we’ll all have to carry it,” he sighed, walking up to it. “Everybody hold on!” 

The crown was just as heavy as it was big. Even worse, Morgana wasn’t able to help them because he was only one foot tall, so Akira had to settle for letting him be the lookout for any guards that might be patrolling around. Luckily, the hallways leading away from the throne room were empty, the guards most likely preoccupied with the main entrance. Even the entrance hall was empty, which was confusing. Akira was sure that Kamoshida would be waiting  _ somewhere  _ for them…

_ “Go, go, let’s go, Kamoshida~!” _

The voice of the fake Ann rang out through the hallway as Kamoshida suddenly leapt from the railing above them and landed in the center of the hallway, with the cognitive version of Ann at his side. Akira, Ryuji, and the real Ann dropped the crown in shock, and it immediately rolled towards Kamoshida, shrinking down to a normal size when he bent down to pick it up. “I won’t let anyone have this!” he jeered, tossing it up and down. “This is proof of my kingship. It is the core of this world!” Akira immediately pulled out his pistol, ready to shoot at it. The weapon felt cool and heavy in his hands, and he took careful aim at the crown, shot, and missed.  _ Shit. _ Kamoshida laughed. “Aw, are you trying to steal it?” he sneered. “You won’t, but I’d love to see you try!” 

“Shut up!” Ryuji shouted. “You ain’t the king of anyone! We’re gonna make you pay for every shitty thing you did, including leaking his criminal record!” He jabbed a thumb in Akira’s direction, and he could feel his face burning. He was glad when Ann joined in on the yelling. “He’s right! You’re going to hell for what you did to Shiho!” She had a look on her face that Akira couldn’t quite read; it was like fury mixed with excitement. Meanwhile, Kamoshida was laughing. “Oh, was that the name of the girl that tried to kill herself? I can hardly remember anymore!” The fake Ann laughed shrilly and squeezed Kamoshida’s arm. “Oh, you’re so  _ funny,  _ sensei!” she squealed, nuzzling his neck. Kamoshida grinned and stared down at them, his yellow eyes gleaming. “You’re all so naive, just like Mishima and that girl who tried to kill herself!” Akira could feel his anger rising, and looked back at his friends, who he could tell were feeling the same. Ryuji was cracking his knuckles, Morgana was making fists, and Ann looked ready to murder. “You’re right,” she said quietly, staring down at the checkered marble floor. “She’s a total idiot. Letting you manipulate her, trying to commit suicide…” She stopped to take a breath, then continued, looking up at Kamoshida and the fake Ann. “And I’m even more of a dumbass for not realizing that.” 

“But no matter how much of a fool someone might be, they don’t need your permission to live their lives!”

Kamoshida scoffed. “Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant!” he snarled. “There’s nothing wrong with using  _ my  _ gifts for  _ my  _ gain!” Ann looked downright murderous now. “Above?! You mean beneath! You’re a goddamn demon obsessed with your sick desires!” 

There was a pause, then Kamoshida started laughing. “You’re right,” he said, red flames beginning to swirl around him. “I’m not like you.” Akira took a step back as Kamoshida started growing taller, his face beginning to distort, and the flames growing higher. “I am a DEMON! WHO RULES THIS WORLD!”

Akira, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana all stepped further back as Kamoshida continued growing and changing, distorting madly until there was nothing vaguely human-looking about him at all. He was huge, taking up the entire entrance hall, with pink skin, large horns, four arms, ugly, bulging eyes, and a  _ huge,  _ disgusting tongue. He wasn’t wearing anything, which led Akira to notice that there was  _ something  _ missing from him, and sitting in front of him was a large golden trophy with what looked like purple human legs sticking out of it. Kamoshida was holding a large golden fork, a knife, and a huge wineglass with the fake Ann inside of it, but Akira was too distracted with the now completely distorted version of Kamoshida in front of him. “What the fuck is that?!” Ryuji shouted, loading up his shotgun and trying to shoot at it. “It’s Kamoshida’s true form!” Morgana yelled back, summoning his Persona and shooting a wind attack at it. Akira was disgusted. He didn’t know where to start. He ran towards Kamoshida and swiped at him with his dagger, to which he reacted by rearing back and shouting in pain. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to hit people?!” Kamoshida yelled, waving the giant knife at Akira, causing him to fall backwards into a very angry Ryuji. 

“Sorry,” Akira grumbled as Ryuji helped him back up. In the few seconds Akira was down, Ann and Morgana were trying their hardest to distract Kamoshida, and it seemed to be working, with Ann shooting fire attacks at him and Morgana worsening them with wind. “Don’t worry about it,” Ryuji said, flashing Akira a small smile, then turning back to Kamoshida. “Let’s whoop his ass.” 

They returned their attention to the fight, which seemed to be going well, until Ann and Morgana were downed by a swing of Kamoshida’s golden knife. However, before anybody could react, he suddenly stuck the fork into the trophy, pulling out one of the pairs of legs and swallowing it whole. As they watched in horror, Kamoshida’s various wounds were healed completely before their very eyes, which prompted Ann to pull out her submachine gun and start firing rapidly at the trophy. “He’s using that thing to heal himself!” she shouted, beckoning at them to join her. Akira leaned against one of the nude statues and pulled out his pistol, taking careful aim at the trophy while Kamoshida was distracted. When he was sure he had a clear shot, he pulled the trigger, and the trophy exploded.

“NO WAY!” Kamoshida shouted, suddenly dropping all of his weapons and falling back slightly, as if he had been damaged along with the trophy. “This is from when I won the national!” Akira quickly joined Ann, Ryuij, and Morgana in surrounding Kamoshida with their guns drawn, pointed at him. “You can’t get away with this! Don’t you realize who I am?” he yelled, sounding slightly desperate. “Yeah we do, so what?” Akira snapped. Kamoshida made a sound that Akira could only describe as a horrified gasp. “Don’t you get it?!” he screamed, waving his many arms. “I am KAMOSHIDA! I’m going to make you pay for this!”

Ryuji scoffed. “Y’know, I always saw you as a condescendin’ hot-shot, but right now, you’re just a pathetic loser.” Ann nodded in agreement. “We came all this way to steal that! Won’t you just give it up already?!” 

“Silence!” Kamoshida yelled, obviously having had enough. “I won’t let the likes of you have this!” Morgana smirked. “Then we’re going to up our game as well!” 

What happened next was something that Akira couldn’t describe. Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, and him were attacking Kamoshida from all sides, quickly and swiftly, again and again until they were suddenly back on the ground. Kamoshida looked angry, but not yet defeated, and picked up his weapons from the floor. Akira knew he had to act fast. He shot an Eigaon at him, which sent Kamoshida rearing back slightly, but he recovered easily, and Akira had mere seconds to dive out of the way of his giant fork. “This isn’t working!” he shouted at the team, throwing a bottle of the painkillers he had bought at Morgana, who had a large bruise on his chest. “We need a new strategy!” 

“What the hell are we supposed to do?!” Ann yelled from across the room as she narrowly dodged a slew of volleyballs from Kamoshida. “Distract him!” Ryuji shouted back, shooting a Zio at Kamoshida’s chest. Akira shot a glance at the creature’s head. Kamoshida was wearing the Treasure, and seemed to be more focused on protecting it than anything else. He would let himself take massive damage as long as the Treasure was protected, and as Akira watched Morgana climb up one of the nude statues to deliver a blow from the air, something clicked in his mind. 

“Mona!” he shouted at the cat, making him stop right as he was about to jump off the statue. He looked over at Akira, who shot at Kamoshida a few times before pointing at Kamoshida’s head. “Get the Treasure!” 

In a split second, Morgana understood- leaping off the top of the statue and at the crown, pushing it off his head, and suddenly, everything seemed to happen in slow motion; Akira lowered his pistol, Ann dropped her whip, Ryuji stepped back, and watched as the crown fell off the king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW i suck at writing fight scenes sorry if this is terrible
> 
> i really don't have anything to say except rip alex trebek and thank u for reading :-)


	15. Siezed

Kamoshida started shrinking.

The pink skin started fading, his gigantic, disgusting head was getting smaller, and his golden fork, knife, and wineglass all fell to the ground as his extra arms disappeared, taking the fake Ann with them. What was left in the center of the hall was a shaking, whimpering, utterly defeated Shadow Kamoshida, clutching the Treasure and looking fearfully up at Akira as he slowly walked towards him, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana behind him.

“No! Please don’t kill me!”

Kamoshida looked utterly pathetic as he lay on the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around the shining crown, his yellow eyes filling with tears. Akira held his gun steady, but he didn’t say anything. This was Ryuji and Ann’s moment, not his.

The two blondes stared down at the Shadow harshly. “Do you finally understand now?” Ann asked, clenching her fists. Kamoshida nodded fervently. “I do, just don’t kill me, please! Forgive me!” He started backing up further and further, but he stopped when he hit a wall. “Shut up!” Ann snapped. “That’s what everyone told you, isn’t it? But what did you do?!” Kamoshida whimpered again and flinched. “It’s not my fault! I’m a victim too!” he protested. “All those damn hyenas with their impossible expectations! I just wanted to be accepted! You understand, right?!” Ryuji rolled his eyes. “You’ve hurt so many people. You ruined Shiho Suzui’s life, and the track team, too! They don’t even got a place to practice anymore ‘cause of you!” Kamoshida nodded again. “What are you going to do to me?” 

It was silent for a moment as they considered what to do. They could kill him if they really wanted to, but Morgana had warned against that, as it could cause him to have a mental shutdown in the real world, and even worse, they would be suspects. The only thing they really could do was let the Shadow go. Let it go under one condition. 

“Atone for what you did.”

Kamoshida’s face changed from scared to confused, then understanding. “Tell everyone what I did?” he asked. Akira, Ryuji, and Ann nodded as they lowered their guns (Morgana lowering his slingshot). “Turn yourself in,” Ann said, her voice cold. “And apologize to everyone, including Ryuji and Shiho.” The others nodded. Kamoshida sighed. “Alright,” he said, defeated. He started to fade. “I’ll return to my real self. And I promise that…”

He was gone before he could finish. The Treasure lay where Kamoshida used to be, and Morgana picked it up, then looked up at Ann, Ryuji, and Akira. “Are you ready to go?” he asked. They nodded. “So does that mean Kamoshida is gonna turn into a good guy?” Ryuji asked as they started to leave. Morgana shrugged. “That’s what should happen, yes. He’ll be unable to cope with the things he’s done, and confess everything. That means you two,” he pointed at Akira and Ryuji, “won’t get expelled, and your friend,” he gestured at Ann, “will hopefully be brought to justice.” Ann let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good to hear,” she breathed. “Are we almost there?”

When they returned to the alleyway, Akira suddenly felt an immense wave of exhaustion come over him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, he felt like he had just finished running an entire mile without stopping, and his legs felt like jelly. At his feet was a gold medal. “Where did this come from?” he asked, picking it up. Morgana stuck his head out of Akira’s bag and looked down at it. “That’s Kamoshida’s Treasure!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening. Ryuji scoffed and kicked the ground. “I thought it was a crown,” he mumbled. Ryuji looked just as tired as the rest of them. “Are you okay?” Akira asked. He was addressing all of them, but Ryuji looked him directly in the eyes and Akira knew that Ryuji knew that it was actually directed at him. “I’m exhausted,” Ann complained. “I’m going home. I’ll text you guys later.” She waved at them, yawned, and then left. 

There was an uncomfortable silence. Akira wanted to ask Ryuji if he wanted to get ramen or beef bowls or something, as he had found quite a lot of money on the floor whenever they fought Shadows, but he looked far too tired to do anything more than ride the train home. Ryuji looked at him for a moment, as if he were contemplating the same, but he must have decided against it, because he sighed and picked up his bag. “I’m gonna head home now,” he said, stretching. “You take care of yourself, alright?” Akira blinked in surprise. “What?”

Ryuji nodded. “You look real tired, man. I think you’re the most tired outta the three of us.” Morgana stuck his head out of Akira’s bag again. “I think you mean the FOUR of us!” he snapped. Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Whatever, cat.” He then looked at Akira again, who was distracted by the sight of someone entering the school as students flooded out the doors. Had they really been in Kamoshida’s palace for only fifteen minutes after the school day was over? The person wasn’t wearing a uniform; just a brown coat and carrying a briefcase. Ryuji didn’t seem to notice them. “What’re ya starin’ at?” he asked. 

Akira blinked. He had never really considered what he looked like to other people when he was zoning out. It probably looked very strange. “Nothing, I just got distracted,” he murmured, pushing Morgana back into his bag. “I’m going home, too. I’m exhausted.” 

The two were silent as they approached the Aoyama-Itchome platform and boarded the train. Akira said nothing as he and Ryuji sat down next to each other, lucky to grab a seat. Akira hardly noticed when Ryuji began to lean on his shoulder, but for some reason he couldn’t figure out, he didn’t mind. It had been a long day. 

When he returned to Leblanc, Akira was glad to see Sojiro busy with a customer as he quietly made his way upstairs. If that customer hadn’t been there, he probably would have gotten yelled at for coming home late again. _It’s not my fault though,_ he thought as he trudged up the stairs. _Sometimes you just needed to fight a monstrous version of your pedophile gym teacher in an alternate dimension so you and your only friends don’t get expelled._

He couldn’t help but remember the train ride home as Akira began moving the piles of books off of the work desk, in need of something to do. Was Ryuji really that tired, or was there something he was trying to tell him? Akira said none of this to Morgana, who was curled up in a sunny spot on the bed. He would probably just make a bad joke about how slow Ryuji was. Akira didn’t like the way the cat talked about his friend. Akira could count on one hand the amount of people who had been nice to him since he arrived in Tokyo, and while he enjoyed Morgana’s company and having someone to whisper answers to him from inside his desk at school, the way Morgana talked about Ryuji was somewhat troubling to say the least. It was like they had known each other for far longer than two weeks and had a long-lasting rivalry. Akira tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind as he pulled out his homework, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus. They had fought Kamoshida, won, and stolen his Treasure, but did that mean the “change of heart” had really worked? Would Akira, Ryuji, and Mishima still be expelled? Would Ann’s friend finally be avenged?

And what the hell were they going to do with that gold medal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello sorry this took so long to update!!!! i was very busy and kinda hit a wall in writing, but i'm back and hopefully will have the next chapter written by the end of this week! 
> 
> this is not only a slow chapter, but a short one. i did try to sprinkle in a little bit of pegoryu in there hehe ;-) 
> 
> thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!!! please comment/kudos if you liked it!! thank you!!!!!!!


	16. Life Goes On

**May 2nd, 2016**

In the weeks after defeating Kamoshida’s shadow, Akira had been keeping himself busy while he waited anxiously for the result by spending more time with Ann and Ryuji. He had also gone back to the strange doctor in Yongen-Jaya, Tae Takemi, who he was able to strike up a deal with. Obviously he couldn’t tell her the real reason why he needed her medicines, but she wouldn’t sell them to him without her getting something in return, so he took up her offer to be her “guinea pig” for a new drug she had been making. Takemi wouldn’t tell him what it was or what it was for, but it didn’t kill him, and that was all he really cared about. 

Ryuji had asked Akira to help him train, in case they went back into the Metaverse again, which Morgana had all but guaranteed at that point. Ryuji told Akira stories about how he used to be on Shujin’s track team before he punched Kamoshida, which he still wouldn’t tell Akira why. They would run laps together mostly, and Akira made mental notes to himself to try to stop smoking soon, because he could barely keep up with Ryuji. When he spent time with Ann, she mainly just wanted to talk to him about her own life, how she did modeling part-time, and how her parents were famous fashion designers who traveled the world, which was the reason for her being born overseas. He had also met a red-haired first year girl, who was apparently an honors student. She had tried giving up her seat on the morning train to an older woman, but someone else had taken it before the woman could sit down. Akira had offered to tell the man who had taken the seat to get up, but the red-haired girl politely declined, and then thanked him a million times for helping her (even though Akira really didn’t do anything). When he wasn’t out with his friends or meeting new people, Akira spent time quietly studying or helping Sojiro at Leblanc. The man was slightly rough around the edges, but he seemed to be trying his hardest to get along with Akira, which meant awkwardly teaching him how to make coffee. However, none of these distractions were enough to stop the growing senses of dread and anxiety Akira felt as the second of May quickly approached. Kamoshida still hadn’t shown up at school, and if the change of heart didn’t work, he would be in more trouble than he’d ever been in before.

On the morning of the second, Akira had to drag himself out of bed and get dressed. The weather was dreary and gray, and the air felt heavy. Not even Morgana had any witty comments to make as Akira rode the train and climbed the steps of the school. Although none of his teachers had gotten calls from the principal’s office about him, he could barely focus in class, and felt relieved when the principal came over the intercom announcing an “emergency assembly”. It didn’t take long for Ann and Akira to find Ryuji in the crowd of students in the gym, and together they waited as the rest of the students filed into the gym and the principal walked onto the stage. “What do you think this is about?” Ryuji hissed at them under his breath as the principal tapped on the microphone and the room quieted. “No clue,” Akira whispered back. “It’s probably not about us, though.” Ann shushed them, and they stopped talking as the principal began to speak. 

“I am sure you are all aware of the terrible incident that happened the other day.”

_ He must be talking about Shiho Suzui. _

“Fortunately, we heard that the victim will survive, though her recovery will take some time. Now I believe that everyone here has a bright, promising future. What I’d like you to take away from this incident is that life is valuable and precious…”

Suddenly, another voice spoke up, coming from behind the curtains.

“Pardon me, principal.”

It was Kamoshida.

A collective gasp made its way through the crowd as the principal stepped aside, letting Kamoshida stand in front of the podium. The students began whispering amongst each other, and Ryuji looked at Akira, a mixture of hope and puzzlement on his face. Kamoshida took a deep breath, silencing the crowd once more, but the principal spoke first. 

“Erm, Mr. Kamoshida,” he half-whispered, looking absolutely bewildered. “What’s this all about?”

Kamoshida didn’t answer. Instead, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Everyone,” he said solemnly, “I feel as if I have been reborn.”

The students began muttering again. Ryuji looked like he had just been smacked across the face. Ann’s jaw had dropped, and Akira felt his stomach drop to the floor.

“I’ve done many things-- repeatedly-- that no teacher should ever do. I verbally abused students. I physically and sexually abused my volleyball teams.” Kamoshida gulped, as if he were swallowing a large lump in his throat. “I- I’m the reason why Shiho Suzui tried to commit suicide!” 

The students gasped again.

“I thought of the school as my own personal castle. I tried to have more than one student expelled- simply because I didn’t like them. I feel ashamed of the horrible things I did to those poor, innocent students. I was an arrogant, shallow, cruel excuse for a human being--no, less than that!”

Suddenly, Kamoshida stepped away from the podium and threw himself onto the ground-- sending another gasp throughout the crowd. “I will take full responsibility and kill myself for it!” he shouted, beginning to sob. Worried murmurs began making their way through the crowd, and the principal ran towards Kamoshida, panicking. “Mr. Kamoshida!” he shouted. “Please get off the stage now!” Another teacher attempted to control the crowd, yelling at the students to return to their classes, but suddenly, another shout rang through the gym.

“Don’t run, you bastard!” 

It was Ann. She looked furious, and the crowd suddenly quieted, everyone turning around to look at her. “Shiho’s still alive after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!” A murmur of agreement went through the crowd, and Kamoshida let out another pathetic sob. “You’re absolutely right!” he yelled. “I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes… I did horrible things to Takamaki-san, as well! In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the volleyball team as a starter, I… I tried to force her into sleeping with me!” 

More horrified gasps from the crowd. Kamoshida kept talking.

“I forced Yuuki Mishima to leak Akira Kurusu’s criminal record by threatening him with expulsion if he didn’t. Not only that, but I said terrible things about Ryuji Sakamoto’s mother, and also… I broke his leg. It wasn’t self-defense, but simply because I didn’t like him.” 

Akira looked at Ryuji. He looked absolutely  _ flabbergasted. _

“Of course, as of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in,” Kamoshida continued. “Someone, please, call the police!”

As the teachers milled around frantically attempting to control the situation, Akira, Ann, and Ryuji looked at each other worriedly. “So, d’you think the change of heart worked?” Ryuji asked. Akira and Ann nodded. “I was thinking he was going to talk about Ann, but not us…” Akira murmured, kicking the ground. He tensed up for a moment when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but relaxed when he looked up and saw it was Ryuji. “That means we won, don’t it?” he asked. Akira nodded, but Ann looked like she was having second thoughts. “Oh, what’s wrong?” Ryuji asked, looking at her. “Ain’t this a good thing? The bastard’s gone now! You avenged Suzui, didn’t ya?” 

Ann nodded and sighed. “I guess, but he did talk about dying and everything…” She rubbed her arm and stared at the ground. “I just can’t help but wonder if we did the right thing…” She trailed off, still not looking up. Akira put his hand on her arm. “Hey,” he said softly, trying not to sound annoyed at her. “Isn’t this what you wanted? He’s gone now. He can’t hurt you, or Suzui,” he glanced at Ryuji, “or any of us anymore.” 

Ann sighed again. “I guess you’re right,” she murmured. “I don’t know what I was thinking earlier… we really did do the right thing.” She wiped her eyes (had she been crying?) and gave them a half-smile. “You guys wanna meet on the roof after school?” she asked. Akira and Ryuji nodded. “Sure, as long as it ain’t rainin’!” Ryuji said, grinning. “This guy’s gonna end up lookin’ like a drowned rat!” He jabbed a thumb in Akira’s direction. They laughed, then said their goodbyes as the crowd began dissolving and the students were ushered back to their classes. As he walked with Ann back to their classroom, Akira noticed she was walking with much more confidence than before, and he supposed she really had no reason not to. Her friend would finally be avenged. He and Ryuji weren’t going to be expelled. Kamoshida would pay for his crimes. 

Things were finally looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello another chapter of filler
> 
> most of kamoshida's confession was taken directly from the manga, because i was too lazy to go on youtube and pick out the dialogue from the scene in the game, sorry. however, i did really want to put in kamoshida mentioning ryuji, because, know, what he did to him was really fucked up. i also felt like putting in how he forced mishima to leak akira's record, too, because i felt like that needed to be addressed as well. other than that, i'm sorry if this chapter was boring, but hopefully this'll be the last "taken directly from canon" thing for a while, so look forward to my hopefully unique take on the buffet celebration!
> 
> on another note, HOLY HELL, i'm so pumped for p5s. an entire persona game with no goro akechi, hallelujah. (no offense goroboys <3)
> 
> also, thank you so much for 3k hits!!! that’s a lot of people who have read what i wrote!! anyways, please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!


	17. How It Feels

“So, when are we gonna celebrate?”

The sky had cleared up slightly since the morning’s assembly, and now Ryuji, Ann, Akira, and Morgana were on the school’s roof. Akira still had Kamoshida’s Treasure hidden in Leblanc’s attic, and he was getting worried about how he was going to get rid of it. He had considered selling it to the owner of that airsoft shop in Shibuya, but he’d have to explain where he got it from, and he was already in enough trouble to begin with. The small amounts of money he’d picked up from fighting Shadows wasn’t going to get them much of a celebration, though, so…

“I want to sell the medal.”

Ryuji raised his eyebrows. “Really?” Akira nodded. “There’s no other way I can get rid of it, and it’s not like any of us have any use for it.” Ann tapped her chin thoughtfully. There was some silence before Ryuji made a suggestion. “How about we go to a restaurant to celebrate?” 

Ann’s face suddenly lit up. “Ooh, that’s a great idea!” she squealed. “I know this fancy buffet that Shiho and I have been wanting to go to for like, _forever_! It’s the Wilton Hotel buffet, and it’s _super_ fancy! Celebrities even go there sometimes!” Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, then at Morgana, who shrugged (could cats even shrug?). “Whatever’s good with Lady Ann is fine with me!” he said, sticking his chest out proudly. Ann giggled. “Good luck not getting caught being in Akira’s bag!” she joked. “I don’t think the place allows pets.” 

Morgana scowled. “I am NOT a pet!” he snapped. “I’m a human! Unlike this blond idiot over here!” He flicked his tail at Ryuji, whose expression changed from mild amusement to anger. “Excuse me!” he snapped. “What did I ever do to ya to deserve that?!” Morgana scoffed and opened his mouth to argue, but Akira cut him off. “He’s got a point,” he argued. “Ryuji didn’t do anything.” He looked at Morgana and Ann, who looked slightly guilty. “You too, Ann. You call him dumb all the time. I don’t know if there was something that happened between you two before, but if you guys keep fighting like this, then we can’t keep doing this Phantom Thieves thing.” There was an uncomfortable silence after Akira finished, and he felt his face go red, realizing what he had just done. Was he even in a position to scold them? They had elected him leader, but did he have the privilege to do things like that yet? 

“Can someone say something?” he asked, starting to sweat. Ann blinked in surprise. “Sorry, I just can’t remember the last time someone actually scolded me like that.” Akira stared at the ground. “Sorry.” There was another pregnant pause, interrupted only by the sounds of the city below them and the occasional creaking of the desks they were sitting on. Akira hated it. He could feel all of their eyes on him, probably waiting for him to yell at them again, and he hated it. “So, is that something we can all agree on?” he finally asked, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Ann and Morgana nodded. “Good,” Akira said bluntly. “So, when do you want to have the celebratory lunch?” 

They eventually decided on the 5th for the day of their celebration. Akira promised he would sell the fake gold medal and make up a story if asked where he found it, and he planned to take Ryuji with him to do it. The tension in the air between Akira and Morgana on the train ride back to Leblanc after the meeting on the roof was thicker than the air before a thunderstorm, and it felt like a blessing in disguise when they returned to an empty cafe. Not taking a moment to wonder where Sojiro could be, Akira unzipped his bag upon entering and let Morgana out, then collapsed into an empty booth. The day had completely drained his energy, and he felt like his brain was a few pounds too heavy. “Why did you do that?!” Morgana grumbled. Akira buried his face in his hands and sighed. He was really starting to regret scolding Ann and Morgana. “Do what?” he replied, already knowing the answer.

“Go on that rant while we were on the roof!” the cat complained back, jumping down from the counter where Akira had set his bag down. “I was just kidding around, you know! Why’d you have to take it so seriously?!” Akira felt his patience quickly ebbing away as he watched the cat pacing back and forth around the shop. The answer seemed so obvious, but it was almost as if Morgana was ignoring it on purpose. Akira could only say the same thing he had said to Kawakami on his first day; “Because he’s one of the only people who have been nice to me at all since I got here!” he snapped. “I can count on my hand the amount of people who have treated me like a human being in this goddamn city, and right now, you’re not one of them! You do nothing but insult and berate Ryuji, even when he does something right! Everything has to be backhanded with you!” 

The cat looked slightly stunned, but Akira wasn’t finished. He hadn’t known Ryuji for long, but he was one of the only people that Akira could call his friend, and it was clear that Ryuji didn’t like being insulted all the time. “If you really want us to stick together and be a team, then you need to quit being such an asshole to Ryuji. Got it?” Akira finished his rant by lighting a cigarette and leaning back in his booth seat while waiting for Morgana to respond. He couldn’t help feeling slightly guilty for yelling so much, but at the same time, he _had_ made some valid points, hadn’t he? They had appointed him leader, after all, so it wasn’t _that_ bad for him to dish out a scolding for a valid reason, right? Akira sure hoped so. Finally, Morgana spoke up, ending his reverie.

“We made the right choice picking you as the leader.”

Akira couldn’t have been more confused if he tried. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped. Morgana wasn't perturbed by his hostility at all. In fact, he seemed proud of it. “It means that you’re the perfect fit for a leader! You’re passionate about the people and things you care about, and you’re willing to do the absolute most for them! Man, I knew I made the right choice!” He stuck his chest out proudly like he had done while talking to Ann, then jumped onto the table that Akira was sitting at. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Akira had expected the cat to fight back and defend himself, but he was acting the complete opposite. “Are you sure about this?” Akira asked. Morgana nodded. “Yup! With you as our leader, we’ll definitely be able to take down anything in our path! You really are our trump card!”

Akira rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said, taking a drag off his cigarette. “That doesn’t matter to me right now. Are we clear on the whole Ryuji thing though?” Morgana nodded. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll apologize to him. Can we be done with the serious talk yet? I wanna sell that Treasure!” 

\---

The next morning, Akira was barely out of bed when he heard Sojiro yelling at him to come downstairs. He needed help in the cafe, and although Akira really wanted to sell the medal already, he also didn’t want to be kicked out, so he agreed to it. By the time Sojiro let him go, however, it was late, and he really didn’t feel like sneaking out and having to explain to Sojiro where he had gone and why. The next day, Sojiro asked him again to help, but Akira knew if he didn’t sell the medal now, he never would, and Ann had texted him about already having made reservations, so…

“Sorry, I’ve got things to do.”

Sojiro looked slightly taken aback. “You, with errands to run?” he scoffed. “What could you possibly have to take care of that won’t get you in trouble?” It took almost all of Akira’s self-control to not roll his eyes, but he remembered the promise of eating something other than instant noodles and jagariko sticks, and he stood firm. “Just something for one of my friends. I do more things than just get into trouble, you know.” 

He was out the door before Sojiro could say anything back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall knew it was coming. i couldn't wait any longer to write akira popping off on morgana for being a dick to ryuji, so here it is. i also wanted to call out ann on it a little, because she does it too (albeit to a lesser extent). anyways, get excited, because next chapter they're going to celebrate! 
> 
> thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, PLEASE kudos/comment! i really like knowing that people enjoy my work! 
> 
> thanks again for reading everyone! <3


	18. ¥30,000

The surly airsoft manager looked at the medal doubtfully when Akira and Ryuji presented it to him. “And where did you get this from?” he asked. Akira felt himself starting to sweat.

“I found it at a flea market a few weeks ago,” he lied, not meeting the man’s eyes. “I didn’t really have much need for it though, so…” He trailed off, staring down at the counter. The guns truly did look real. Akira really wanted to buy another one. Meanwhile, the owner started talking again. “I guess I’ll buy it from ya. How’s 30 thousand sound?” 

Ryuji made a sound that sounded like a mix of indignation and anger, but Akira silenced him with a jab in the arm and looked back at the manager. “I’ll take it.” The manager sighed and put the medal down on the counter and started looking through the register for the money. “You’d better not breathe a word to this to the feds,” he grumbled, not looking up. “I already had to deal with some bullshit from them a few days ago.” Akira shook his head. “Oh, don’t worry. We hate the cops.”

The manager looked up at them and smirked as he handed the money over to Akira. “Well, whaddya know? Me too.”

\---

Akira was woken up early the next day by Morgana yowling in his ear. “Wake up, Joker! I want sushi! I want meat! Let’s goooooo!” 

_ Great.  _ Akira rubbed his eyes groggily and stretched, pushing the cat away from his head, then picking up his phone from the shelf to check the time.  _ 7:45am.  _ “We don’t leave until noon!” he mumbled, putting it back down and rolling over. “That doesn’t matter! I can’t sleep, I’m so excited!” Morgana said. Akira scoffed. “Then go outside or something!” he snapped. “I want to go back to bed!” 

Morgana huffed and jumped off the bed, leaving Akira alone to try and fall asleep again in the dusty attic. However, as light slowly filled the room and the sounds of the cafe opening downstairs grew louder and louder, Akira knew it was pointless to try any longer. Grumbling, he pushed the sheets off, sat up, and started getting ready for the day.

Sojiro gave him an odd look when Akira sat down at the counter. “What are you doing up so early?” he asked gruffly as he started pouring coffee, ignoring the eye roll Akira gave him. He didn’t have to say anything as Morgana poked his head out of the bag and started sniffing the air while Sojiro cooked. “When are we going?! When are we seeing Lady Ann and Ryuji? When am I getting my meat?!” Sojiro looked down at the cat fondly and raised his eyebrows. “Ah, so it was the cat that woke you up, huh?” he said smugly. Akira just groaned. Sojiro chuckled and started pouring another cup of coffee. “Here,” he said, offering it to him, which he accepted. “Going somewhere?” Akira nodded and took a sip. The coffee was bitter, but not so much that he didn’t like it. “Lunch, with my friends.” 

Sojiro looked at him with wide eyes. “ _ You  _ made friends?” Akira nodded and took another sip of his coffee. “What, is that weird?” he asked. Sojiro blinked and shook his head. “No, I just didn’t think-” 

“You didn’t think anyone would actually want to be friends with me, right?” 

Akira drank more of his coffee while he waited for Sojiro to respond. He could see the man trying to come up with something to say. He felt slightly embarrassed though, and when Sojiro turned his back to him to look at the TV, Akira tried to start up the conversation again. “I mean, it’s fine, I didn’t think so either at first.” he stammered, causing Sojiro to turn back around and face him. “Maybe I’ll invite them here sometime.” 

He stayed until he finished his coffee, thanked Sojiro, then left the cafe, Morgana in tow. “Finally!” Morgana exclaimed as he stuck his head out of Akira’s bag again while he walked up and down the streets of Yongen-Jaya to pass the time. It was only nine in the morning, and he wasn’t supposed to meet the others until noon. Akira was about to buy some cigarettes from the vending machine across from the secondhand shop, but he stopped when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, and felt himself smile when he saw it was a text from Ryuji.

**May 5th, 2016 09:14**

**Ryuji:** Hey, dude, do ya have any extra time you can spend before we go to the buffet?

**Ryuji:** You probably won’t see this for another few hours, but it ain’t hurt to try, right?

Akira replied quickly.

**Akira:** yeah i’ve got time

**Akira:** where are you

**Ryuji:** What the hell are ya doin’ awake so early? We ain’t goin’ until noon!

**Akira:** morgana woke me up

**Ryuji:** Damn furball. Anyways, I’m at the arcade in Shibuya!

Akira put his phone back in his pocket and turned around to head for the train station. “Where are we going now?” Morgana complained from the bag. Akira shoved the cat’s head back inside as he approached the platform. “Didn’t you read the texts?” he hissed. “I’m meeting Ryuji at the arcade.” The cat squirmed around in the bag as Akira boarded the train and tried to find a seat. “I couldn’t see the screen, the sun was too bright!” came Morgana’s muffled voice from the bag. Akira ignored him, and spent the train ride thinking about a certain fake blond waiting for him instead.

Ryuji smiled when he saw Akira entering the arcade. He looked tired, especially with Morgana standing up on his shoulder, but otherwise happy to see him. “Hey,” he breathed as he leaned against the vending machine next to Ryuji, setting the bag with Morgana in it down at his feet and yawning. His breath smelled like coffee. Ryuji didn’t really mind.

Akira and Ryuji spent the next two hours playing as many games as they could afford without spending the celebration money and talking while they waited for it to be time to leave. They learned more new things about each other; Akira learned that Ryuji liked cooking, even though he wasn’t very good at it, and that he liked the smell of coffee, but not the taste. Ryuji learned that Akira actually enjoyed reading, and that he was afraid of needles. He still wouldn’t tell Ryuji about his relationship with his parents or more details about his previous school life, but that was alright. There were some things that Ryuji wasn’t exactly ready to spill either.

Eventually, the time came when Akira and Ryuji left the arcade and left for the buffet. On the train, Akira was reminded of the train ride home after they had defeated Shadow Kamoshida, and when Ryuji laid his head on Akira’s shoulder. He wanted to bring it up again, ask Ryuji why he did it, but at the same time, he knew that it could wait for another day. For now, they had a heist to celebrate.

\---

“Thanks for the food!” 

The buffet food was  _ delicious. _

Akira had piled as much food as he could on his plate, and felt instantly refreshed at the first bite. The food was better than he could have imagined; he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had something this good. Ann and Ryuji seemed to feel the same; Ann’s eyes closed as she dug into her cheesecake, and Ryuji practically tearing apart his steak. “Is it good?” Akira asked. Ryuji nodded. “It melts in my mouth!” 

Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag and scoffed. “Who cares?! Where’s my food?! I want meat! Fish! Rice! Dessert!” Akira pushed the cat’s head back into his bag quickly. “Quiet!” he hissed. “They can’t find out I’ve got a cat here!” Ryuji pushed a plate absolutely piled with food towards him. “Here,” he said through his mouthful of food. “We remembered to get ya somethin’ too!”

Akira raised his eyebrows at the pile of food on the plate. “What…  _ is  _ it?” he asked. Ann put her plate down and leaned forward over the table. “We didn’t really know what to get ya, so we just got ya some beans.”

Morgana’s eyes widened. “B-beans?!”

Ann nodded. “There was some pretty bizarre stuff there, too, so we got you a variety of those,” she said. “Fried bananas, preserved eggs, and… some kind of beans.”

Morgana blinked in surprise. “M- _ more beans?!” _

\---

After their plates were cleaned, Ryuji and Akira excused themselves to go to the bathroom before they had to leave. Ann stayed behind, wanting to get one last slice of cake. Ryuji was especially anxious to get to the bathroom, complaining about having “eaten too fast”, which made Akira want to wait for him to finish before taking his turn. Akira noticed Ryuji looking slightly green even after he was finished. “Are you okay?” he asked, holding out his hand, as he looked as if he were about to faint. Ryuji nodded. “I ate way too much, dude.” Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag again and leaned over his shoulder. “Meathead!” he snickered. Akira scowled and pushed him back into the bag. “Can it,” he hissed, then looked at Ryuji, who either didn’t hear Morgana or was too tired to care. They said nothing until they got to the elevator, about to enter when they were suddenly cut off by a group of men in suits and sunglasses. 

“Hey!” Ryuji shouted as one of them pushed him aside. “We were here first!” One of the men turned around, obviously annoyed. He was bald and wearing orange-tinted glasses, and to Akira, he looked oddly familiar. “It seems the customer base has changed since I was here last,” he said coldly. “Did they start a daycare?”

The other men laughed and stepped onto the elevator, and Ryuji started yelling indignantly, but Akira wasn’t listening. The bald man’s voice sounded far too familiar for Akira to ignore, and he suddenly stepped forward and stopped the elevator doors as they started closing. “Hey!” Ryuji yelled, grabbing Akira’s arm. “What are ya doin’?!” Akira didn’t answer. “Wait!” he shouted. The bald man stopped talking to the others and turned around, looking shocked and confused. “What? What do you want, brat?!” 

Akira scowled. “You’re that asshole from before!” he yelled, pointing at the man. “You were harassing that woman! You- you fucking got me arrested, asshole!” He tried to get into the elevator, but Ryuji grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back as the elevator doors shut and the elevator left. “Damn it!” Akira grumbled. He was sure that the bald man was the same one from before. “Dude, what the hell was that?!” Ryuji spluttered. “You tryna get yourself arrested again?!” Akira shook his head. “I’ll explain later,” he said dismissively, shaking his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas and happy satanael day everyone
> 
> i had fun writing this chapter! sorry if it's a bit short :-( thank you for reading, though! if you enjoyed, please leave a comment or kudos! ALSO, thank you so much for 4k hits!!! that's a lot of people who have read what i wrote, and i really appreciate it!!
> 
> happy crimbo everyone!!!!!!


	19. From This Day Forward

Akira was quiet until they got off the elevator.

“Sorry for that,” he said quietly. He hadn’t realized how bad of a decision it was to make a scene until afterwards, and he had probably gotten them banned from the hotel for life. Ryuji, however, didn’t seem to think the same. “For what?” he asked, confused. Akira shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground. “For embarrassing us like that. That was a really dumb thing I did.” Ryuji shook his head. “What? No way, dude, that was awesome!” 

Akira raised his eyebrows. “What?” Ryuji grinned at him and slapped his shoulder. “I dunno what that was all about, but you were amazin’ back there! You gotta tell me who that guy was!” Morgana poked his head out of the bag and jumped on Akira’s shoulders. “Yeah, I’m curious too!” he added. “Who was that?”

He didn’t really want to answer. “I’ll tell you later, okay?” Akira mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve. Ryuji sighed. “Fine, but you at least have to tell Ann what happened!” They looked over at Ann, who was still sitting at their table, looking annoyed. “Are you sure I have to?” he whispered. “I don’t want to make her more angry…” At the sound of their voices, she looked up at them and scoffed. “What took you guys so long?”

Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Why’re you bein’ so pissy? We hardly left.” Ann glared at him. “When I went to get more dessert, some lady bumped into me, and it made me drop my food all over her! She made a whole scene about it, even though SHE bumped into ME!” She flipped her hair and crossed her arms. “It’s people like that whose hearts we need to change the most.” Akira stretched as he sat back down and yawned. He was starting to feel tired. Meanwhile, Ryuji was looking at Ann with interest. “So you’re sayin’ you wanna keep up this Phantom Thieves thing?” he asked.

Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag again. “I was gonna ask that!” he added. “There are definitely loads of people way worse than Kamoshida out there, and we’ve got the power to stop them!” He looked up at Akira, who noticed Ann and Ryuji’s eyes on him as well. “What about you?” He raised his eyebrows. “Me?” He looked at Ann, who nodded. “I think I want to keep doing this phantom thief thing, too,” she said quietly. “There are probably loads more people out there suffering just like we did. If I turn a blind eye to them and do nothing, then I’ll be no better than my old self.” 

Akira could still feel their eyes on him, and he felt his face redden. It definitely felt good going through Kamoshida’s Palace, fighting the Shadows, knowing that he was helping not only Ann and Ryuji, but the students on the volleyball team as well. He remembered the bald man at the elevators, and suddenly had an idea. That man definitely had a Palace, or whatever it was that Morgana called them, and if he and the others got stronger, then there was a chance that maybe he could find him and make him pay for what he did. Akira didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that harassing that woman and getting a teenager arrested weren’t the only bad things that that jackass had done. 

With his mind made up, Akira pushed his glasses further up his nose and looked up at his friends. “So? Whaddya think?” Ryuji asked hopefully. Akira took a deep breath. “I think we need to do this,” he said firmly. “This is only something we can do. There are probably a million other Shiho Suzuis suffering out there, and it’s up to us to help them.” He put his hand over the table, and Ryuji and Ann followed suit. “You’re right,” Ann said. “Only we can do this!” Ryuji grinned. “Alright! From this day forward, May 5th, 2016, at…” he pulled out his phone, looked at the time, then put it back in his pocket, “Twelve fifty-two, the Phantom Thieves have officially formed!” 

They lifted their hands and then sat back down. Akira picked up his almost-empty glass of sparkling cider and lifted it, Ryuji and Ann doing the same with their drinks. “Here’s to reforming society!” he said, and as they made their toast, he smiled.

\---

**May 5th, 2016 15:45**

**Ryuji:** So, what’s our group gonna be called?

Akira smiled at his phone. After their hour at the buffet was up, Akira, Ann, and Ryuij spent some time walking around the area near the hotel together. He hadn’t told Ann about the bald man at the elevators, which he knew he should have, but they were having such a good time that Akira really didn’t want to ruin the fun. When he returned to the cafe, Sojiro was busy with customers, so he quietly went up to the attic and laid down, feeling tired and ready to take a nice nap. It was only when Akira was about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed with a message from Ryuji to him and Ann, but Akira didn’t mind at all. Something about Ryuji made him feel happy inside, like drinking cold water after being outside for a long time on a hot summer’s day.

**Akira:** hmmm

 **Ann:** What’s wrong with “Phantom Thieves of Hearts”? That sounded pretty stylish!

 **Akira:** too long

 **Ryuji:** Does Morgana have any ideas?

Akira smirked and turned over in bed. Morgana was sitting on the couch next to the work desk where Akira kept the airsoft gun hidden, and he looked up when he heard Akira moving from the bed. “What is it?” he asked. Akira said nothing and got up to show him the phone. It was quiet for a minute while the cat thought of something. Finally, he gave a suggestion. 

“How about “Tilefish Poele”?” he asked. Akira scoffed. “The hell kind of name is that?” He sat down on the couch next to the cat, realizing this could take a while. Morgana glared at him. “It’s what I had at the buffet! Delicious _and_ classy-sounding!” Akira shook his head. “Lame. I’m not telling them that that was your best idea.”

**Akira:** morgana didn’t have any good ideas

 **Akira:** do you have any ideas ann

 **Ann:** What about “The Diamonds”?! That sounds pretty fancy, don’t you think?

 **Ryuji:** -___- I’m getting a real little league baseball feel from it.

 **Ryuji:** Got any ideas, Akira?

That was tough. Akira put his phone down next to him and leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. They wanted something short, but nice-sounding, but not edgy or stupid like Morgana’s idea. Akira liked Ryuji’s “Phantom Thieves of Hearts”, but like he had said before in the chat, it was too long to put on another calling card. He could shorten it, though, but he didn’t know how. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Phantom Thieves, The Thieves, The P-Thieves, The Phantoms… That could work. In fact, that was perfect.

**Akira:** i got it

 **Ryuji:** Ooh, what did you come up with?

 **Ann:** Yeah, tell us!

 **Akira:** “the phantoms.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year!!
> 
> i was originally planning to upload this on sunday, but that's my birthday, and i thought it would be better to have this done before then, so here it is. next chapter will include the introduction of maruki and maybe some sumi, so look forward to that :D by the way, thank you so much for 200 kudos!
> 
> if you enjoyed, please PLEASE leave a comment/kudos! thank you for reading, and i hope you liked it!


	20. Out of Kindness

_“Another assembly?”_

_“What’s it gonna be about this time?”_

_“Ugh, this sucks…”_

_“Did something happen?”_

_“I hope they make this one quick…”_

  
  


The gym was crowded with chattering students and impatient-looking teachers. It didn’t take Akira and Ann very long to find Ryuji in the crowd, and he grinned and waved at them as they approached him. “Why d’you think they’re callin’ an assembly today?” Ryuji said, staring at the empty stage. “Kamoshida’s gone, ain’t he? What else could they possibly have to tell us?”

Akira shrugged. “I just hope this doesn’t take too long,” he grumbled. “The sooner this is over, the better.” A few more minutes passed, and after what seemed like an hour, the principal stepped onto the stage, tapped the microphone, and the room fell silent. He said nothing, instead stepping to the side as if making room for someone. “Doctor,” he said loudly, “The stage is yours.”

Someone pushed the curtains aside, and from behind them came a young man that Akira had never seen before. He had floppy brown hair and glasses, and was wearing a lab coat and a loose blue tie. “Ever since that specific incident, many of you have voiced concerns that I could not bear to ignore,” the principal said. Akira heard Ryuji scoff next to him. “Like he ever gave a shit about the students,” he mumbled. “All he cares about is the school’s rep.” The principal was still talking.

“We believe that the mental health of our student body is absolutely vital, so we’ve acquired the services of a therapist.” He gestured at the young man standing next to him. “Please, introduce yourself.” The man stepped forward, bowed slightly which made him accidentally hit his head on the microphone, making the crowd laugh. Akira rolled his eyes. Finally, a new voice rang through the room. “Nice to meet you,” the stranger said. His voice was soft and kind-sounding. “My name is Takuto Maruki. Thank you for welcoming me to your school.” 

There were lots of whispers from the female students. “Isn’t he hot?!” “Oh my gosh, I love him already!” Akira pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the floor. _Really?_ The man, Maruki, was still talking. “You can call me Doc, if you feel like that makes you more comfortable. Either way, I’ll be happy to give you any assistance you need.” He stepped aside and made room for the principal. “Thank you, Dr. Maruki,” he said. “He will be stationed in the nurse’s office, and will be here until November. We hope he will prove helpful to the student body.” With that, he and Maruki walked off the stage, and the assembly was over.

\---

Akira met Ann and Ryuji in the courtyard by the vending machines at lunchtime, quickly stomping out his cigarette when he saw Ryuji coming. “So, whaddya think of this Maruki guy?” Ryuji asked as he sat down next to Akira. He shrugged. “He seemed nice enough,” he replied. Ann nodded. “I thought the same,” she added. “I think it was a good idea to bring in a counselor. I have a lot of stuff I want to get off my chest…”

Ryuji shook his head. “You really expect this place to give a shit about our mental health?” he scoffed. “I bet the principal only hired the guy to make this place look better. You really think he’ll do us any good?” Akira shrugged and took a sip of his grape soda. “I don’t know. I really don’t care.”

Morgana said nothing.

They stayed there until the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. On their way back to the classroom building however, Akira was stopped at the door by a tapping on his shoulder. Wondering who else in the school could possibly want to be seen near him, he turned around, and was surprised to see Dr. Maruki standing there, an awkward smile on his face. “What do you want?” Ryuji asked, turning around when he noticed that Akira had stopped walking. Ann elbowed him in the chest. “ _Don’t be rude!”_

Maruki laughed. “It’s alright, don’t worry.” He brushed a lock of his messy hair out of his eyes and looked up and down at the three of them. “Sakamoto-kun and Takamaki-san, right? And that must make you Kurusu-kun?”

Ryuji scowled at him. “How d’you know our names?” he snapped. The look on Maruki’s face quickly turned from amusement to guilt. “Well, I, ah, was informed of certain students before beginning my tenure here.” Akira crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground. “And…?” Maruki looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Those that had, ah… previous interactions with Mr. Kamoshida.” Suddenly, he regained his composure, looking Akira directly in the eyes. “Kurusu-kun, it must have been especially tough for you after having just transferred here. And your previous school experiences, as well.” 

Akira narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that?” he asked. “Don’t tell me the teachers told you that I’m a violent delinquent, too.” To his surprise, Maruki just laughed. “No, not at all!” he said, smiling. “I just figured that it must be difficult adjusting to a new school environment, and having, ah, _complications_ with a teacher can certainly worsen the experience.” Maruki’s positivity was starting to bother him. Why did he even want to talk to Akira again?

“I know I already offered my services to the student body earlier, but would you three be interested in counseling?” he asked hopefully. Before Akira could answer without sounding rude, Ryuji shook his head. “Nope, not at all.” Maruki looked shocked. “Wh-huh? You all seemed so enthusiastic earlier…” Akira repressed the urge to roll his eyes. How had he appeared enthusiastic? Maruki’s face suddenly changed again, as if he had an idea. “Ah-- but if you come to my office, you can have free snacks!” he said, smiling (which was starting to get annoying). “What do you say? You definitely look like you could use a bite to eat, Kurusu-kun.” He laughed at his own joke, but Akira felt his face reddening. Maruki was still talking. “All you can eat, would be nice, but there’s still plenty to be had. So how about it?” 

Akira sighed. Maruki really did seem like a nice guy, albeit a little overbearing, but with the weight of everything that had happened to him in the past two months, plus never having an adult he could really _talk to_ back in his hometown, he could use the advice. Sakura-san was nice enough, but Akira could tell that he still slightly resented him, and it would take a while for Akira to be able to confide in him. With the teachers treating him like a nuisance, and his friends having their own problems to deal with, he guessed he really didn’t have a choice. Sighing, he conjured up a smile and looked at Maruki. “It’s a deal,” he said. 

Maruki grinned. “Great! I’m glad I was able to come through to you.” He then looked away and at the ground again. “To be honest, I was explicitly ordered to provide counseling to the students directly involved with Mr. Kamoshida.” _Figures._ “It’s in the school’s interest… for the students.” Akira could practically hear Ryuji’s eyes rolling. “Ahh, the school’s interest, huh?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms. Maruki didn’t meet Ryuji’s eyes. “I know that asking you to be open with a complete stranger like myself is asking a lot,” he said. “Making this mandatory won’t do you any good, either. You might as well make the most of it…”

“Just think about it, okay?”

And with that, he turned around and left.

\---

The train ride home after school was mostly quiet until Akira noticed something. Morgana had been completely silent since before the assembly, which was odd. He hadn’t spent much time with the cat, but Akira knew that he was the kind to voice his opinion on everything, no matter the subject. However, he hadn’t made a single sound all day, and it was starting to worry him. “Hey, Mona?” Akira asked quietly, unzipping his bag. “Why’ve you been so quiet?” 

Ryuji looked up from his manga that he had been reading since he boarded the train. “Yeah, I was wonderin’ that, too! I thought you’d be givin’ us your two cents as soon as that counselor introduced himself!” The cat slowly poked his head out of the bag and looked up at them. “I had something else I wanted to talk to you three about today,” he grumbled, barely audible over the sounds of the train. Ann looked up from her phone curiously. “Really? What was it, Mona?”

Morgana sat up a little straighter at the sound of Ann’s voice. “Well, I knew it would catch _your_ attention, Lady Ann,” he said proudly. “There’s something I want to show you guys. You’ve been thinking about who our next target will be, right?” Akira nodded. He’d been thinking about it here and there, even doing some research when he had nothing else to do, but nothing had really caught his attention yet. “Did you find something?” he asked. Morgana shook his head. “Not exactly. When we get off the train, I want to try something out.” 

Ryuji leaned closer to Akira’s bag. “Quit stallin’ and just tell us, dammit!” he said. He was very close to Akira. Almost too close. However, Akira’s pounding heart and panicking brain couldn’t ignore Morgana’s plan. “Alright, blondie, I’ll tell you!” he said, flicking his tail at him.

“We’re going to Mementos.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii another update
> 
> apologies for the slight delay, i was kinda busy, and also i just didn't feel like writing. i'm back though!
> 
> sorry for no sumi in this chapter! she likely won't be in the next, either, but trust me, she'll be here eventually! maruki's here though, which i know some people were looking forward to, so here he is! hooray! 
> 
> thanks for reading! if you enjoyed, PLEASE leave a comment/kudos! it makes me happy knowing that people enjoy my work!!!! <3


	21. Mementos

“What the fuck is Mementos?”

Morgana glared at them. “Don’t be so rude!” he snapped. “Mementos is the shared cognition of the masses. It’s where you’ll find the Shadows of people with distorted desires, but not distorted enough to turn into Palaces.” He looked at Akira, who was only slightly confused. “I get it,” he said thoughtfully, leaning back in his seat. “Where does it go though?” 

The cat shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll explain it to you when we get there.” He swatted at the zipper on Akira’s bag, obviously wanting it to be closed, but Akira didn’t close it. “Hang on,” he said. “I don’t have my weapons. They don’t just spawn next to us in the Metaverse, right? You guys didn’t bring your stuff either, right?” He looked at Ryuji and Ann, who both shook their heads. Morgana scoffed. “Ugh, you guys are all idiots! Why are you never prepared?” Akira glared at him. “It’s not my fault! You should have told us we were going to the Metaverse today!” He started closing the bag, but Morgana swatted his paw at him. “Fine! We’ll go tomorrow!” he snapped. “Make sure you’re prepared!” 

Ryuji sighed as he walked off the platform with Akira. “How am I supposed to keep a shotgun hidden in my bag?” he groaned. Akira laughed. “Just put it in a shoebox or something. Keep it in your locker for the rest of the day.” Ryuji looked at him in surprise, his eyes wide. “How did you know that?” he asked. “You ever hidden a gun in a locker before or somethin’?” Akira laughed again. “No, dumbass. But you should probably hide that iron pipe behind one of the vending machines. I don’t know how you’re gonna get away with that.” 

That made Ryuji laugh. “You’re lucky,” he said. “That pistol an’ knife of yours fit real easy in that bag. And the cat.” Morgana immediately poked his head out of Akira’s bag and climbed up his shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not a cat?!” he snapped. Ryuji just rolled his eyes. “I’ll bet ya 5 thousand yen that when we eventually do find out what you are, it’s gonna be a cat.” He looked at Akira, who shrugged. “Sure. I’m in.”

Morgana was scowling for the rest of the day.

\---

The following school day was uneventful until lunchtime.

Akira was eating his lunch (some instant yakisoba noodles and a can of grape soda) alone in his homeroom when he was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. Surprised, he turned around only to see the blue-haired boy named Mishima that had taken him and Ryuji to Kamoshida’s office that one day standing behind him, a nervous look on his face.

“What is it?” Akira asked. The boy flinched slightly as if Akira had yelled at him, but stood firm. “I… uh… h-how are you?” he stammered. He then looked down at the floor, but Akira could see that his face was red. “I’m, uh, fine,” he replied. “What did you want to see me for?” Mishima was biting his lip and clenching his fists. It was obvious that he was very scared to talk to Akira, which made him feel slightly guilty. Was he really that difficult to approach? “Hey, uh, I’m sorry if I come off as intimidating,” he said quietly, which made Mishima look up at him in shock. “W-what?” 

Mishima seemed extremely nervous now, which made Akira feel more guilty than ever. “Can you just tell me what you came to see me for? Am I in trouble again?” Mishima suddenly waved his hands and shook his head fervently. “No, no, not at all!” he said hurriedly. “I just wanted to ask you something.” He then leaned in closer and looked around quickly, as if he were afraid someone was eavesdropping on them. “Um, y-you wouldn’t happen to be a member of the Phantom Thieves, would you?”

Akira almost spit out his soda.

“What makes you think that?” 

Mishima looked shocked, then backed away. “I’m sorry!” he said quickly. “I totally get it! I’m sorry, I just figured-” he started, but Akira interrupted him and stood up. “It’s fine,” he whispered. “I’m actually the leader. I just wanted to know how you figured it out.” Akira might as well have given Mishima one million yen, because he looked extremely excited. “Really?! You are?!” he whispered. Akira nodded. “So, what did you want to tell me?”

It looked like it took a second for Mishima to remember his reason for approaching him. A few seconds later, his face lit up again, and he dug around in his school bag for a second, then pulled out his phone. “I wanted to show you this!” he said excitedly as he quickly tapped around on the screen, then handed the phone to Akira. “The Phantom Aficionado Website!” 

Akira was met with lots of red. In big white letters across the top of the screen read “DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE PHANTOM THIEVES?” with something that looked like a poll function at the bottom; two answers: yes or no. Underneath it were several comments posted by anonymous users, who Akira guessed were mostly Shujin students, talking about the calling card and debating the authenticity of the Phantom Thieves’ existence. It seemed to be a forum dedicated to the group, but why? Akira handed the phone back to Mishima, slightly confused. 

“It looks great, but what exactly  _ is  _ it?” he asked. Mishima grinned. “I’m glad you asked!” he said brightly. “There are tons of people way worse than Kamoshida out there, and I know that the Phantom Thieves won’t stand aside and let them get away with their crimes! That’s why I created the Phan-Site to give hope and strength to those who are suffering. I’m sure that you guys can prove that there’s still justice in this world!” 

There was an awkward silence after that. Akira really didn’t know what to say. Mishima’s enthusiasm was definitely encouraging, but could he really trust him to keep his secret? He was already constantly walking on eggshells around the school staff, and having someone he didn’t know very well know that he was responsible for Kamoshida’s change of heart didn’t sit very well with him. However, Mishima really did seem grateful for what Akira did, and after everything that he went through under Kamoshida, he seemed trustworthy enough. He went through the trouble of creating an entire website devoted to the Phantom Thieves, and the more allies he had, the better, so…

“It’s great,” Akira said, smiling warmly at Mishima, who went red. “This’ll be a huge help for us. Thank you.”

\---

“Wait, he knows our identities? Ain’t that bad?” 

Akira shrugged. “Not really. He told me he’d keep it a secret.” He then took another sip of his grape soda. “Mishima doesn’t really seem like the type of guy to break a promise like that, anyways.” 

It was after school. Akira had met Ryuji and Ann by the vending machines near Aoyama-Itchome station where Ryuji had hidden his iron pipe, which was thankfully still hidden behind a potted plant. Akira told them about Mishima and the Phan-Site, which garnered mixed reactions. The only one who really seemed excited about it was Morgana.

“This’ll be perfect!” he exclaimed as Akira showed the website to the group. “This is exactly what we needed for today! You’re amazing, Leader!” Akira felt slightly taken aback. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I didn’t do anything.” Morgana ignored him. “We can’t go into Mementos without a target! This website will definitely have what we need!” Ryuji and Ann looked just as confused as Akira felt. “Target?” Ann asked. “What are you talking about?”

Morgana shook his head. “Never mind, I’ll explain when we get to the station square. Let’s go, let’s go!” 

The train ride seemed to take longer than usual. When they finally reached the station square, Akira started unbuttoning his blazer slightly, because it was a surprisingly warm day. “Okay, so now what?” he asked, unzipping his bag and setting it down on a short wall next to the stairway. “Someone needs to open the Meta-Nav, and someone else needs to open that website,” Morgana instructed. Akira opened Mishima’s website, and he heard Ryuji slump down next to the wall and the weird beeping sound that the Meta-Nav made when it opened. “Now what?” he asked. 

“Start going through it,” Morgana said. “The website, I mean. Stop when you find a comment that sticks out to you.” Ann walked over next to Akira and peered over his shoulder as he started scrolling. 

“Give me one million yen.” “Hell, I wish I had that much money!”

“Please stop my friends from arguing.” “Um, names and details, please!”

“My ex won’t stop stalking me. He follows me wherever I go. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara.”

Akira and Ann looked at each other, then down at Morgana. “That one sounds pretty serious,” Akira said. Morgana nodded. “I agree. Plus they put down the name. I think we’ve found a target.” Ryuji’s face lit up. “Sweet, our next target already!” he exclaimed. “We just gotta put in the name and it’ll take us to his Palace, right?” Morgana shook his head. “Not exactly. Just put in the one word: ‘Mementos’.” 

Suddenly, they heard a loud “ping” coming from Ryuji’s phone. “Input accepted,” the smooth female voice said. “Beginning navigation.”

The world suddenly started changing. The people around them slowed down and began to distort, along with the rest of their surroundings. “What’s going on?” Ann asked, looking around. “We’re going to the Metaverse, right?” Morgana nodded. “Just hold on,” he said. “It’ll smooth out in a second.”

It did. As soon as he was finished, the distortion stopped, the people disappeared, and it was suddenly very quiet. The atmosphere felt much different. The air felt lighter, and Akira felt like he was stuck in between dimensions; the Metaverse and the real world. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve gone anywhere,” he grumbled, looking around. “What changed besides everyone else disappearing?” 

Morgana, still a cat, jumped off the wall and ran towards the stairs that led to the underground walkway. “Just follow me! You’ll see when we get down to the station!” 

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Akira noticed that Morgana was right. Everything had changed; it was like a twisted, more fucked-up version of the subway. Everything was red and black, the screens that normally displayed departure and arrival times for the trains were now broken and displaying gibberish, and black vines were creeping up every surface. Morgana, no longer a cat, jumped up onto one of the ticket gates. “Everyone,” he said, bringing Akira, Ryuji, and Ann’s attention to him, “Welcome to Mementos.”

Upon seeing Morgana, the three then noticed that their clothes had changed, and they were now holding their weapons. “Whoa, holy shit!” Ryuji exclaimed, looking around. “Everything looked so fucked up here! It’s super weird!” Akira and Ann nodded in agreement. “Morgana,” Akira asked, “Are we in Nakanohara’s Palace?”

Morgana shook his head. “Close, but no.” He jumped off the ticket gate and stood in front of Akira. “Remember what I told you yesterday? This is the collective unconscious. You could say it’s like…” He trailed off, obviously trying to figure out a word, when Ryuji suddenly spoke up. “It’s like everyone’s Palace?” he suggested. 

Surprised, Morgana turned to look at him. “Yeah, exactly!” he said. “I’m shocked that you were the one who came up with that, Ryuji.” He then turned back to Akira and Ann. “Nakanohara’s Shadow is in here somewhere. He won’t have a huge castle like Kamoshida, but he’ll have his own little area where all his desires are piling up.” Akira started fidgeting with the safety lever on his pistol as Morgana talked. He felt like the not-cat could have made this a lot shorter. He only stopped to look up when he heard Ann speak up. “That all makes sense, Mona, but I have a question.” She paused as Morgana looked at her earnestly. “What is it, Lady Ann?” She looked up over the ticket gates at the subway tracks ahead of them nervously. “How are we supposed to get around here? Are we gonna have to walk?”

Morgana’s eyes lit up. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “It seems the time has finally come for me to show this to you!” He suddenly struck a pose, startling them, but he either didn’t notice or care. “Morgana!” he shouted. 

_ “TRANSFOOOOORM!!!!!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii!!!! a bit of a quicker update than usual, but this chapter was so much fun to write! 
> 
> mishima is here again! such a good and underrated character, i was originally planning for akira to be more blunt towards him, but i don't think i could bear being any more mean to mishima than you're forced to be in the game, so i decided against it. in this house we love and respect yuuki mishima.
> 
> thanks so much for reading! if you enjoyed, PLEASE leave a comment/kudos! comments keep me motivated to keep writing and it makes me so happy knowing that people enjoy my work! <3
> 
> p.s. 5k hits wow... thank you so much!


	22. Qimranut

Morgana then did something very strange.

He jumped up into the air, disappeared into a large puff of smoke, then a loud “pop” sound was heard. A second later, something dropped down on the ground-- something huge.

It was a van. It was black, with a thick yellow stripe down the middle, black cat ears at the top, and the lights were bright blue, exactly the color of Morgana’s eyes. It didn’t take long for Akira to put the pieces together-- the cat could turn into a  _ car.  _ That seemed to be what Ann and Ryuji were thinking, too.

“A  _ car?!”  _ Ann exclaimed, taking a step back. Ryuji looked completely at a loss for words. The car had no visible mouth, but Morgana’s voice suddenly rang through the air. “That’s right, Lady Ann!” he replied proudly. “Mementos represents the cognition of the masses. For some reason, cats turning into cars is an  _ extremely  _ common cognition.” There was a pause. Nobody seemed to know what to say. “Well, what are you staring at?” Morgana snapped. “Get in!”

Akira sat in the driver’s seat. He had never actually driven a car before, but he had played racing games a lot as a child, so driving on the subway tracks of a bizarre other world where the pedestrians were enemies couldn’t be too hard. Ryuji took the passenger’s seat and immediately crossed his legs comfortably. Ann sat in the back and leaned forward to be closer to them. “So now what?” she asked. If Morgana wasn’t a car, he would have been rolling his bright blue eyes at them. “So drive! Let’s get going!” 

  
  


\---

Driving on the subway tracks and veering around Shadows was a very odd experience. Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana talked to each other occasionally about things like school and TV while Akira drove, sometimes stopping to fight Shadows. Although he brought some of the medicine he bought from Takemi, Akira noticed himself becoming winded more and more easily, which made him feel even more guilty about his smoking habit. When they reached one of the platforms going further down, Akira stopped the team for a moment. “There’s something I want to do,” he said, rummaging around in his school bag. They looked at him oddly when he pulled out the pack of cigarettes he had bought the other day and looked at it for a moment, then tossed it onto the tracks. “Let’s go,” he said quickly, turning around and heading for the escalator. “Why’d ya do that?” Ryuji asked as they stepped off the escalator and waited for Morgana to transform.

Akira shrugged. “I noticed I was getting tired really easily,” he said. “I’m your leader, aren’t I? I should be more dependable. I figured it was the smoking that was making me tired, so I did that.” Ryuji nodded slowly. “Right. I gotcha.” He was mostly quiet while Akira drove, occasionally stopping to ask Morgana if they were near the target yet, but staring out the window at the Shadows passing by and the bluish-red of the Mementos walls. Finally, after what seemed like hours of driving, fighting Shadows, and going down escalators, Akira stopped the car in front of a path that looked different from the others.

It was a normal-looking path, until the tracks began twisting and lifting up into a strange hole-like thing where a wall should be. “Is this where the target is?” Ann asked hesitantly. “Yup!” Morgana replied. “Floor it, Joker!” Akira blinked in surprise. “You want me to drive headfirst into that thing?!” he spluttered. “Are you crazy?!” He gripped the steering wheel harder and looked at Ryuji, who also looked shocked. Morgana sounded annoyed. “Just do it!” 

Akira didn’t have a choice. He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, sending them forward and into the opening, and for a second, everything was completely black. However, there was a loud “bump” sound, and suddenly they were on the other side. There was a figure standing at the end of the path, surrounded by thin black smoke, and Akira guessed that he was Natsuhiko Nakanohara. He heard a low popping noise from behind him, which must have been Morgana turning back into a cat, because he suddenly ran past Akira and towards the figure. 

He followed, drawing his pistol and knife, even though he really didn’t know what to expect from the figure. “Are you Natsuhiko Nakanohara?” Akira asked when he reached the figure, hearing Ann and Ryuji’s rushed footsteps behind him. The figure looked up, revealing a neat crock haircut and bright yellow eyes behind square glasses. “Who’s there?!” the figure barked at them. “Why have you come here?”

Ann stomped her foot on the ground. “You’re Nakanohara, right?” she snapped. “The guy stalking his ex?” The Shadow laughed coldly. “So what if I am? And stalking? Is that what that woman said?” He threw his head back and let out another laugh, this one short and sharp. “Don’t be ridiculous! She belongs to me! I can do whatever I want with my possessions!” Ann smacked her whip against the ground angrily. “Talk about a selfish jerk!” she yelled. “Do you even care how she feels about that?!” 

Nakanohara’s Shadow began to shake. He was running his hands through his neat hair madly, starting to laugh. “Who cares?!” he spat. “I was treated like an object for years! Now it’s my turn! What’s wrong with me doing the same thing?!” The ground began to rumble as Nakanohara gripped his forehead and stared furiously at the four in front of him. “There are millions of people out there who are worse than me!” 

Akira started to feel excited. This was what he was waiting for, another ugly enemy to slice at, to knock down, to place under the barrel of a gun before finishing it off once and for all. The Shadow began convulsing, thicker black smoke surrounding it, until it exploded and revealed its true form. It looked like a little demon with Nakanohara’s haircut obscuring its eyes. It was barely taller than Morgana. Akira looked at his team, who looked back at him with determination. This was it. It was time to attack.

Ryuji went first; throwing a Zio at it, which hit the enemy, but didn’t shock it. Next was Akira, who chose his move carefully, eventually deciding to run up to it and swipe at it with his knife, because he had a feeling that curse skills wouldn’t do much against it. Then went Ann, who sent a ball of fire at it, which left behind a nasty burn. Morgana finished with a gust of wind from his Persona, causing the demon to fall backwards onto its back, and as Akira and the others rushed forward towards it with their guns drawn, he knew what to do next. “Let’s finish it off!” he shouted, and once again, he, Morgana, Ann, and Ryuji attacked it as one, ending it with a pull on his glove. Almost immediately after they returned to the ground, the demon disappeared in a flash of black smoke, leaving the defeated-looking Nakanohara in its place.

“Looks like you’re back to your old self,” Akira said quietly. 

Nakanohara sat up slowly, rubbing his head. “I…” he started, not meeting their eyes. “I get it now. I’m sorry.” He stood up slowly and gave them a pleading look. “Please forgive me. My obsession spiraled out of control… I’d been used and abandoned by my old teacher…” Akira uncrossed his arms and took a step closer to the Shadow. “Your teacher?” he asked, suddenly curious. Nakanohara nodded. “Yes. He’s a famous Japanese-style artist. Ichiryusai Madarame. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

Akira heard Ann gasp from behind him. “Madarame?  _ The  _ Madarame?” The Shadow nodded again. “Yes.. I was terrified of being used and discarded again, like he’d done to me. That’s why I…” He trailed off and stared at the ground. Akira put his hands on his hips and thought for a second. “Be that as it may, you still caused a lot of trouble for your ex,” he said. “Although we have a reason why you did it, that doesn’t make what you did go away.”

Nakanohara sighed. “You’re right. What I did was wrong. There’s no denying that…” he said sheepishly, rubbing his arm. “I’ll apologize to her. There’s still one more thing I want to do though.” Akira heard Ryuji sigh next to him. “What is it?” he asked. He sounded tired. The Shadow took a deep breath and looked up at them, and Akira noticed that his eyes now looked kind and understanding. “Can I ask for a favor?” 

Morgana tapped his foot on the ground. “Depends,” he said, looking up at Akira. “What do you say, Leader?” Akira bit his lip. “What do you want?” he asked. Nakanohara looked slightly hopeful. “Can you do something about Madarame?” Suddenly, his voice began to fade, as if he were walking away from them as he spoke, and his body slowly became enveloped in a soft white light. “Change his heart, before more of his students fall victim to his cruelty. So they won’t end up like me…”

With that, he disappeared, and in his place was a sparkly orb floating in the air. “What’s that?” Ryuji asked. Morgana squinted at it, then looked up at Akira. “It’s the bud of a Treasure. Go on, take it.” He gestured forward, and Akira reached out and grabbed the object. The sparkles exploded when his hand closed around it, and he felt a warm, pleasant sensation fall over his hand, as if he had placed it over a fire on a cold day. He suddenly heard Morgana’s voice behind him. “Had that been left alone, it very well could have blossomed into a Palace.” It was silent for a moment before Ryuji spoke up quietly. “So, we changed Nakanohara’s heart, right?” he asked slowly. Akira nodded. “Most likely,” he replied. “If we didn’t, we’d probably have to help his ex file a restraining order.”

That got a laugh from Ann and Ryuji, but not Morgana. “I’m still concerned about what his Shadow said afterwards, though,” he said quietly. “That artist is famous, right?” Ann nodded. “He was on ‘Good Morning Japan’ the other day,” she replied. “He’s a pretty big deal, but-” 

“We should head back,” Akira interrupted. Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana looked at him, surprised. “We can discuss that tomorrow. For now, I think we should get back to the real world. I’m getting tired.” The others looked at each other, then back at Akira, who started heading back towards where they entered. “Come on,” he called back at them. “Morgana, you know what to do.”

As he drove the cat-bus back up the subway tracks, Akira felt himself growing more and more tired. He wasn’t sure how much time they had spent in Mementos exactly, but it felt like hours had passed, and he was starting to regret throwing away the cigarettes. However, seeing Ryuji staring idly out the window as the bus passed the Shadows reminded Akira why he had done it in the first place. He was getting winded far too easily when they fought, and he had to be physically well if he wanted to keep his position as the leader. So, trying to quit smoking was for the success of the Phantom Thieves.

He was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!
> 
> it's time for another chapter! apologies for focusing so much on the smoking part. as much as i wanted to make it a minor detail and not a plot point, i thought "i can make this pegoryu if i try" so that's what i did. in case you didn't know already, akira reaaally wants to make ryuji happy. sorry that this chapter is mostly canon game stuff, but i tried to put in my own details here and there.
> 
> i'm debating on whether or not to include jose in this or not. on one hand, i love that little egg boy to death, but on the other hand, he doesn't really serve that much of a purpose in the story other than calling ann pretty and being another feature of mementos. so, if i don't include him in the next chapter, i'm really sorry. but who knows? skjhfsdgf
> 
> thank you so much for reading! if you liked it, PLEASE kudos/leave a comment! thanks again!!! <3


	23. A Woman

On the train ride home, Akira got a phone call.

It was from Ann. “Hey, can you talk right now?” she asked. She sounded slightly worried. “Yeah, what’s up?” he replied. Akira could hear Ann take a deep breath as if trying to calm herself down. “Um, I’m calling you because I’m pretty sure someone’s following me, and I want to stay on the phone with you until I get home.” 

His eyes widened. “Where are you right now?” Ann took a moment to respond. “I’m about a block away from my apartment building,” she said, then took a pause. “I can’t see the guy anymore, either.” Akira breathed a small sigh of relief. First a pedo teacher, now this. “What did he look like?” he asked. Maybe if Akira had a mental image of Ann’s potential stalker, he could keep an eye out for him. Ann giggled. “What, are you gonna try to find him so you can beat him up?” He didn’t say anything and waited for Ann to start talking again. “Um, he was really tall and skinny, and he was wearing a school uniform that I didn’t recognize. He had blue hair that was kinda covering one of his eyes.” Akira closed his eyes for a moment and tried to create an image of the stalker, and he pictured a boy about his age wearing headphones and an uninterested look on his face. That couldn’t be Ann’s stalker, though, unless Akira’s strange Persona skills also included predicting the future. Speaking of Ann, she was still talking.

“I don’t think I see him anymore, so I’m gonna hang up now,” she said. She sounded less anxious now. “That’s good,” Akira responded, still trying to shake the image of the scowling boy. He had never seen anyone like that before, but at the same time, the face seemed oddly familiar. That didn’t matter now, however. He had to worry about explaining to Sojiro where he had been for the past four hours.

Sojiro scowled at Akira as he entered Leblanc. “And just where have you been all day?” he asked sharply. He was lucky there weren’t any customers around, because his demeanor was currently anything but a kindly old coffee shop owner. Akira’s eyes darted around the room nervously, trying to look at anything except the angry man glaring at him. “Um, I was hanging out with my friends,” he said quickly, which was technically true, even though he knew Sojiro would either doubt him or punish him for it. He unzipped his bag and placed it on the floor, nudging it slightly with his foot and signaling for Morgana to go upstairs in case Sojiro threatened to throw him out. Speaking of Sojiro, he still looked angry.

“You know, the more you come home late after spending time with your friends, the less I trust you to go out on your own,” he snapped. “You have my cell, don’t you? At least let me know if you’re going to come back late!” Akira flinched slightly. He was no stranger to being yelled at and scolded, but not from a stranger who was going to be housing him for the next year, and especially with nowhere else to go if he was kicked out. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, staring at the floor. “I didn’t know I would be out for so long, and I kinda got lost on my way back here…” 

_ That _ was a lie. However, Sojiro seemed to have bought it, because his face immediately turned from angry to slightly sympathetic. “So you’re still not used to the area?” he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. Akira nodded. Sojiro sighed. “Alright, I’ll let you off this time, then. But I’d really appreciate it if you at least tried to get more familiar with your surroundings, okay?” Akira nodded, and watched as Sojiro turned off the TV next to the sink, gathered up his things, and started to leave. Before he walked out the door, however, stopped abruptly, dug around in his pocket for something, then turned around to face Akira. “Look,” he said, sighing. “I guess it’s partially my fault for not teaching you a little bit about the area. I guess you are staying here for the next year, after all.” He then held out his hand, in which sat a set of keys. Akira looked at them curiously. Sojiro sighed again. “You’re itching to go out and explore, aren’t you? Lock up for me at night, and don’t stay out too late, okay?” 

With that, he gave Akira a small smile, and left, the cheery sound of the bell echoing after him.

  
  


\---

Akira wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his newly-acquired freedom. He took the train to Shibuya and wandered through the station square, down Central Street, and eventually ended up at the airsoft shop. The money he had picked up from fighting Shadows in Mementos felt heavy in his pocket, and he hadn’t bought new weapons for them since before they’d dealt with Kamoshida, so it seemed like the right thing to spend his money on. He ignored the intimidating stare of the manager, and ended up picking out a nice new pistol for himself and a better shotgun for Ryuji. 

“What’re ya buying all these guns for?” 

The manager looked suspiciously up at Akira as he pushed the money over the counter to pay for the weapons. He shrugged. “My friends and I are enthusiasts, that’s all,” he lied. It seemed enough for the manager though, who sighed as he placed the boxes into a paper bag. “Just don’t use ‘em to pull any pranks, alright?” He avoided Akira’s eyes as he slid the bag across the counter, and said nothing else as he left, the door swinging shut behind him.

\---

_ “Ugh, we have exams?!” _

_ “I’m gonna fail so badly…” _

_ “This sucks!” _

_ “Wanna study with me?” _

_ “Man, I’m tired already…” _

\---

Akira was very tired.

Because he didn’t want to be thrown out for bad grades, and also because Morgana wouldn’t stop bothering him about it, Akira had spent most of the past few days studying for the exams with Ann and Ryuji. They weren’t exactly difficult, but he still felt like he could have done a lot better. Now, they were almost over, and although Sojiro hadn’t let him leave until he had finished a plate of curry and a cup of coffee, Akira still couldn't help yawning as he waited for the subway with his friends. Ryuji looked just as tired as Akira felt.

“Up all night studying?” he asked as the other yawned. Ryuji shook his head. “Nah. I tried, but eventually I got too distracted and ended up playin’ video games all night. Before I knew it, it was morning.” Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag and snickered. “Just what I’d expect from you, Ryuji,” he said coolly. He then turned his head to look at Ann, who looked anxious again. “What about you, Lady Ann? Were you studying?” 

She jumped slightly at the sound of her name, then looked at Morgana, her expression softening. “What? Oh!” She brushed a lock of stray hair out of her eyes and continued. “Yeah, I sure was. I figured since it was the end of exams, I’d make one last effort across the finish line.” Morgana grinned. “Impressive, Lady Ann! At least you make an effort, unlike s-” he started, but Akira reached behind his head to nudge Morgana’s ears to make him shut up. “ _Can it!_ _ Remember what we talked about?”  _ he hissed. Ann didn’t seem to notice, though. She smiled and reached out to scratch his chin. “Thanks, Mona. Now I feel extra prepared…” She suddenly trailed off and looked behind her nervously.

“What’s up?” Ryuji asked. “You see a groper or somethin’?” Ann frowned and shook her head. “No, that’s not it, it’s nothing.” Akira opened his mouth to argue, because it clearly was  _ something,  _ but stopped suddenly when he felt a strange feeling wash over him. Like he was being watched. 

Akira and Ryuji stayed extra close to Ann on the train ride to school, and looked around the area before they got off. As they rode the escalators up to the exit, Ann suddenly gasped, startling them. “Oh my God! That guy got off!” She clutched the straps of her bag and looked up at Akira, who frowned. “Isn’t this bad?” Ryuji yawned and stretched, causing Ann to turn around and place her hands on her hips as she glared down at him. “Hey, at least act like you care!” she snapped. Ryuji just rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said, sounding bored. He then started up the escalator, pushing past the people in front of them, a confused Ann following him. “Hey, wait! What are you doing?!” Akira sighed and started after them. It was going to be a long day. 

Through the loud voices and footsteps, Akira could hear the sound of jangling keys following him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey heyyyy
> 
> yusuke is almost here. so close. sorry he's not in this chapter, but i really wanted to publish something today because WE REACHED 40K WORDS!!!!! i'm honestly shocked that i managed to get this far with this thing, because i really thought i was gonna post like 3 chapters and call it finished, but here we are 23 chapters in and still going strong! thanks so much everyone who's been supporting this!! anyways, yusuke will be in the next chapter, i PROMISE. also, secret minato reference??? i recently finished my collection of all the p3 mangas and i love emo jesus so i just had to slip him in, even if it's just a tiny little thing, but he's there! i mean, if you asked me to think of a persona character with blue hair partially covering one eye, i'd probably think of minato, too. ;-)
> 
> thanks so much for reading! if you liked it, please leave a comment/kudos! comments keep me motivated to continue writing, and it makes me happy knowing that people like what i wrote! thanks again! <3


	24. Blue

As the noise grew closer, Akira and Ryuji walked closer to Ann, and when they heard approaching footsteps, they knew it was time to see who Ann’s stalker really was. Akira turned around quickly, hearing a muffled meowing coming from his bag (it must have hit Ann when Akira turned around), and coming face to face with the stranger.

He was just like Ann had described him; very tall and skinny, with deep blue hair that slightly covered one of his eyes, and wearing an unfamiliar school uniform. Clipped to one of his belt loops was a key ring; that’s what Akira had heard. He crossed his arms and glared at the stranger, who looked perfectly calm and not at all like he had just been caught following someone. “Are you the guy who’s been stalking her?” Akira asked, jabbing a thumb in Ann’s direction.

The stranger looked confused. “Stalking?” he asked, pushing his hair away from his eyes. “That’s quite outrageous.” Ann pushed her way past Akira and Ryuji and stared up at him angrily. “I know you’ve been following me!” she shouted. “Ever since the train!” He seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment as Ann, Ryuji, and Akira glared at him. Even Morgana poked his head out of the bag to get a look at the stranger. “That’s because-” he started, but he stopped himself at the sounds of an approaching car. He looked to the road, and so did Akira, wondering what interrupted the blue-haired boy.

It was a very nice-looking black car, the type that you’d see transporting a celebrity somewhere. The backseat window rolled down, and a kind-looking old man stuck his head out to look at them. “There you are, Yusuke!” he called. “My goodness… I was wondering why you had left the car. So this is where your passion led.” He paused. “All’s well that ends well…” The old man then started laughing to himself while the window rolled back up, making the blue-haired boy (Yusuke?) turn back to them, his face slightly red.

“I saw you from the car,” he said to Ann, who now had a surprised look on her face. “I couldn’t help myself from chasing after you. I didn’t even notice the calls from Sensei, but thank goodness I caught up to you…” Akira arched his eyebrows. What was this kid’s deal, and what did he want with Ann? “Hey, can you just-” he started, but Ann interrupted him, making a confused face at the stranger. “Okay… but what did you want with me?” she asked. Ryuji nodded. “I was wonderin’ that myself,” he added. “Why’re ya so fuckin’ obsessed with her?” 

The stranger took a deep breath and stared directly at Ann. “You’re the woman I’ve been searching for all this time!” he exclaimed. “Please, won’t you-” 

Akira was in front of Ann and face to face with the stranger before he could finish his sentence. “Is that what you want from her, you creep?!” he spat. “A date? You stalked her for that long because of  _ that?!”  _ He looked behind him at Ann, whose face was redder than her leggings, then back at the stranger. “You made her really freaked out before, you know!” Ryuji took a step forward as well. “You gotta find better ways to talk to girls, y’know! They don’t like it when someone follows them everywhere they go!” 

The blue-haired boy seemed completely unfazed by Akira and Ryuji yelling at him. He pushed them aside (“What gives, asshole?!”) to step closer to Ann, who took a step back. “Won’t you please be the model for my next art piece?!” 

Ann blinked. Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, then at the stranger, then at Ann, who looked absolutely bewildered. “M-model?” She asked, fidgeting with one of her twintails. The boy nodded. “All that I’ve drawn until now has been lacking, but you have reawoken my passion!” Akira heard Morgana meowing in his bag, but Ryuji gave it a hard nudge, shutting him up. “Ain’t this a recruit for some shady business?” He asked slowly. Akira shrugged. The stranger leaned closer to Ann. “Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?”

Her eyes were darting around everywhere, obviously trying very hard not to make eye contact with the stranger. Ryuji stepped forward again before she could answer. “Hold your horses, dude! Who are ya anyways?!” Somehow, the boy was still unfazed by the yelling. “Oh, I suppose I forgot to introduce myself,” he said casually, brushing his hair aside again. “My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. I’m a second-year at Kosei High’s fine arts division.” He pushed Ryuji aside again to get closer to Ann. “I’m Madarame-sensei’s pupil, and I’m being allowed residence at his place. I’m striving to become an artist.”

Akira felt a small light go off in his brain. Wasn’t Madarame the one that the Shadow mentioned in Mementos? The famous artist who “needed a change of heart”? Ryuji seemed to think the name was familiar as well, because he looked at Akira worriedly, then back at Yusuke, who was standing very close to Ann. 

“Madarame-sensei’s exhibit will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow,” Yusuke said. “I’ll be there to help out. Please, come by.” He then pulled out three pieces of paper- tickets to the exhibit, Akira noticed, and held them out to Ann, who took them hesitantly. “I suppose I’ll invite you two as well, although neither of you look very interested in the fine arts,” he said, looking at Akira and Ryuji coldly. They glared back, but his attention was already directed back towards the still-embarrassed Ann, who was putting the tickets in her school bag. “It’d be wonderful if you could give me your answer in regard to the modeling opportunity by then,” Yusuke said. “I hope to see you tomorrow.” With that, he turned around and walked back towards the car, leaving the three of them more confused than ever.

Akira, Ann, and Ryuji were silent for the rest of the walk to school, and they didn’t meet again until after the school day was over. They met on the school roof, being that it was a sunny Saturday, and most of the students had left, eager to get home now that exams were over. Morgana was stretched out on one of the extra desks when Ryuji and Ann finally showed up. Akira was drinking water he had gotten from one of the vending machines, trying to drink something other than bread from the school store and lukewarm grape soda. Ann yawned as she sat down next to Morgana. “Exams are finally over!” She looked at Akira and Ryuji, smiling. “How do you guys think you did?” 

Ryuji kicked the ground and scoffed. “Prolly flunked all of them,” he said. “I can’t concentrate for shit.” He looked at Akira, who was distracted by a loose thread coming from his sleeve. “How about you?” he asked, slightly startling him. “Think ya did okay?” Akira shrugged and took another sip of his water. “Hopefully enough to keep a roof over my head,” he replied dismissively. Although they certainly were important for a number of reasons, his exam scores were the last thing on his mind. Ever since their encounter with Yusuke, Akira couldn’t stop thinking about Madarame and what he had heard in Mementos. The Shadow had claimed that the artist abused the pupils that lived with him, forcing them to lose their passion for art, and in the Shadow’s case, end up losing themselves in the process. However, Yusuke seemed to respect Madarame quite a lot, and he hadn’t even talked about him that much. There was clearly more to this, and Akira wasn’t sure where to start. Even if Yusuke was suffering the same abuse that Nakanohara had mentioned, why would he accept help from Akira, who was so rude to him back at the station? 

Akira was snapped out of his reverie by Ryuji’s hand in front of his face. “Hey! Earth to Akira!” he yelled. “Are ya there?” He jumped slightly, blinked, and looked at his friends, who seemed slightly concerned. How long had he been lost in thought for? “What’s wrong with you today?” Morgana asked. “Did you really do that badly?” Akira shook his head. “No, it’s not about the exams,” he said, standing up. “It has nothing to do with that.”

“I need to tell you all something. It’s about our next target.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter!
> 
> yusuke is here! i originally wasn't going to upload today, and only write a few paragraphs before going to bed, but before i knew it i had a whole chapter and i knew i needed to stop (it's currently 2:36am as i write this lol) so here you go. 
> 
> if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! thank you for reading, and i ope to see you next chapter!


	25. Alright

The mood shifted suddenly as the words left Akira’s mouth. Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana were staring at him intently, waiting for him to speak, and he once again found himself wondering why they saw him as a leader if he froze up like this when he had to talk to them. “Erm,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck, “It’s about that Yusuke guy. And the art exhibit. Something he said was bothering me, and I wanted to know if you guys felt the same.”

They nodded. “I mean, everything he said bothered me, but what stood out to you?” Morgana asked. Both Ryuji and Ann made sounds of agreement before turning their attention back to Akira. “When he mentioned his teacher. The name Madarame stuck out to you guys too, right?” The three of them nodded again. “I remember hearing that Shadow dude talking about him in Mementos,” Ryuji said. “Somethin’ about how he was abusin’ his pupils and shit. Real serious.” He and Akira looked at Ann, who shifted uncomfortably on the desk where she was sitting. “I mean, I made that connection too, but what are you implying here?” she asked. “That Yusuke is being abused?” 

Akira sighed. “I don’t want to say that he should be our next target just yet, but we definitely shouldn’t just ignore it either. The only way to get closer to the guy and see what he’s really like is to-” 

“-go to the art exhibit,” Morgana finished for him. He nodded. “We’ll go tomorrow. Worst comes to worst, you’ll probably have to do the modeling thing,” he said, looking at Ann. She cringed. “Do I have to?” Akira felt very bad for Ann. She really didn’t seem to want anything to do with the modeling career, but they all knew that Yusuke could be being abused, and the only way to find out was to go to the house and find out. But they wouldn’t know what Madarame was like at all unless they went to the exhibit, so…

Akira pushed his glasses up his nose and reached for his bag, Morgana jumping in and making himself comfortable. “It depends,” he said. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

  
  


\---

Sojiro gave Akira a rare smile when he walked through the cafe door. “On time, eh?” he asked, stirring a cup of coffee. “Don’t have any dangerous plans for this afternoon?” Akira shook his head. “I’m going to an art exhibit with my friends tomorrow,” he said, sitting down at the counter. “Someone gave us free tickets. Does that count?” Sojiro chuckled. “I ought to have you arrested for that,” he joked. “Going to an art exhibit.” 

That night, Akira decided to explore Shibuya some more. In the station square, he passed a middle-aged man giving a speech in front of the entrance to the underground wearing a green sash. There were a few onlookers listening, but most of the people in the area walked past without a second thought. Akira felt slightly bad; the people who were listening seemed uninterested, even though the man looked to be trying his best. He wanted to stay around, but there were some more places he wanted to check out, and Sojiro expected him to come back before a certain time, so he made a mental note to come back one day, and headed for Central Street. 

Akira could feel Morgana leaning on his shoulder as he walked down the busy street. He had never been in such a busy city street before; maybe once or twice on vacation with his family as a child, but never by himself. There was a bookstore to his left, a DVD rental shop to his right, a drugstore up ahead, a convenience store, a movie theater, the airsoft shop, the Velvet Room-

Wait.

The deep blue doorframe stood out brightly in the back alley where Akira had gone the other day to buy his new weapons, and in front of it stood one of the white-haired twins, holding her clipboard and looking at him with an annoyed look in her golden eye. “What the hell are you doing here?” Akira hissed as he speedwalked towards the door. He barely noticed that Morgana was no longer in his bag, probably having leapt out to explore some more, but he didn’t care. He didn’t know how he would have explained it to him anyways. The girl scowled. “A pleasure to see you too, Inmate,” she snapped. “Come inside. We have much to discuss.”

There wasn’t much Akira could do as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him in through the doorway, ignoring his protests as the warm evening faded away and was replaced with the cold darkness of the Velvet Room. When Akira could finally see again, he was back behind bars, the twins standing in front of the door, and the unsettling man named Igor staring down at him over his long, pencil-shaped nose. “Welcome back,” he said, his lips not moving. “There is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”

Akira rolled his eyes. “What, that your little wardens here are rude as hell?” The one with twin buns smacked her baton furiously against the bars. “You be polite when you are speaking to our master!” she shrieked. The man named Igor seemed unfazed by the scene as he grinned eerily at them. “He is not wrong, Caroline,” came the voice of the twin with the clipboard from Akira’s left. “You can be quite brash when talking to the Inmate.” The one called Caroline looked absolutely furious, but she said nothing and turned back around to face the desk in the middle of the room where Igor was sitting. “What did you want to tell me?” Akira asked. 

Igor maintained his wide smile and gestured at the twins. It was clear that they would be delivering the message, which filled him with a sense of dread. It seemed to be showing, because Caroline laughed and smirked at him. “We’re not gonna kill you, Inmate. Just wanted to ask what you thought of the new door that we set up in your world.” Before he could respond, her twin continued for her. “This will allow you to be transported from your world to ours. Make good use of it.” Neither of them seemed very intent on letting Akira talk, because Caroline started up right after her sister finished. “That’s all we wanted to tell you! Now go back to your world! No slacking off!” 

Before he knew it, Akira was back in the back alley of Central Street next to the airsoft shop. He saw Morgana sitting in front of the drug store, staring up at the sign, and prayed that he hadn’t seen Akira staring off into space in that back alley while he was in the Velvet Room, because there was absolutely no way he could explain it to him. “Hey,” he said as he approached the cat, making him jump slightly and turn around. “Are you ready to go?” He put his bag down next to Morgana and let him jump in, then shouldered it and turned around. “Where were you?” he asked as Akira headed back towards the station square. He didn’t answer. “I’ll tell you later,” he replied, yawning. “I’m tired.” It wasn’t a lie, for some reason, being in the Velvet Room seemed to drain his energy much faster than anything else, including fighting Shadows and jogging with Ryuji. 

He was quiet for the entire train ride home.

\---

On the day of the exhibit, Akira and Ryuji hung behind while Ann and Yusuke walked around and talked (probably about the modeling job). Ryuji wasn’t very interested in the art, and Yusuke seemed slightly afraid of Akira, so he stayed near the entrance. They didn’t say much, just watched the people coming and going through the exhibit, not paying much attention to anything until Akira noticed someone familiar surrounded by reporters.

It was Madarame, the old man they had seen in the car the previous day. He seemed calm and patient despite being surrounded with chattering newspeople shoving microphones in his face. “Hey,” Akira said, nudging Ryuji, who looked up from his phone in surprise. “Isn’t that Madarame?” 

Ryuji nodded. “Yeah, and?” He seemed uninterested, but Akira hadn’t forgotten what the Shadow had told him in Mementos, and why they came to the exhibit in the first place. “We wanted to find out what kinda guy Madarame is, didn’t we?” he said. “Let’s listen to him, then!” Ryuji nodded again, pocketed his phone, and followed Akira as he tried to get as close to Madarame as possible without intruding. 

“...Many have called my studio a run-down shack, but that is all I need to pursue my art.” One of the reporters laughed. “You’re so modest, Master Madarame!” she said, beaming. “Please, tell us more about how you get your inspiration!” Madarame chuckled. “Well, one thing I can say for sure is that it’s important that I distance myself from worldly desires like fame and money. All I ask is that you enjoy my works and understand the care I put into them.” 

Akira felt his face redden as he walked away. Maybe Nakanohara had been wrong about Madarame. Maybe he really was a modest, humble old painter who was doing his best to raise Yusuke and build his talent. Maybe he really wasn’t going to be their next target. Maybe-

“Hey, is that Master Madarame in person?! Oh my gosh, it is!” 

Suddenly, a large group of people rushed past Akira and Ryuji and towards the reporters, pushing them against a wall. “Hey, what the hell?!” Ryuji shouted, trying to get their attention, but before they knew it, the two of them were back in the hallway that led to the exhibit. “Man, what the hell was that for?” Ryuji mumbled, rubbing his arm. “One of them totally just straight-up pushed me.” Akira pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. They’d only been there for ten minutes. “Ann’s probably gonna be in there for another fifteen minutes or so,” he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “What do you wanna do until then?” 

Ryuji thought for a moment, then looked at Akira and grinned. “You still ain’t too familiar with the area, right?” he asked. Akira nodded, prompting Ryuji to slap his shoulder and start walking towards the stairs. “I’ll show you around, then! C’mon!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello!!! a new chapter is here!!!
> 
> we're getting closer and closer to madarame's palace! i'm sorry if these filler chapters are boring, but it's kinda hard to move the story along without them, unless you want big gaps in the story where a chapter ends with something mundane and the next one starts with a major plot event. i also apologize if i'm being too loyal to the canon in some scenes, because that's what i'm trying NOT to do!!! but if you're still reading and enjoying this, then thanks a lot! i appreciate it!
> 
> if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i hope to see you next chapter! :-)


	26. One Step Closer

Ryuji ended up taking Akira for a walk around the area where the exhibit was being held, stopping occasionally at shops to look around inside, but not staying too long, because Ann could be finished with the exhibit at any moment, and they didn’t want to leave her there alone with Yusuke. While they walked, Ryuji and Akira took more time to get to know each other, and up until then Akira never knew how much he liked telling people about himself. Ryuji now knew that Akira secretly enjoyed sweets, was good at math, could cook fairly well, had gone to Hokkaido on vacation a few times with his family as a child, and that he liked Western rock bands. In fact, he knew almost everything about Akira except-

“When’s your birthday, dude?”

Akira blinked. “What?”

Ryuji shrugged. “I didn’t ask ya that yet,” he said. “So, can ya tell me?”  _ I don’t see why not, _ he thought. “November 20th. Why? And what’s yours?” 

The sound of Ryuji’s phone ringing interrupted him before he could open his mouth. “It’s Ann,” he groaned as he looked at the screen, then picked up. “What? Whaddya mean you’re done already? … Me n’ Akira got pushed out by a buncha people and I wanted to show him around ‘cause he still ain’t too used to the area. … Can we just meet ya here? Ugh, fine. See ya.” 

After hanging up, he turned to Akira and frowned. “Looks like we gotta go,” he said. “Ann sounded pissed.”

\---

It was raining when they met Ann at the Shibuya walkway. “What took you guys so long?” she asked, folding her arms and glaring at them. “I thought you guys were waiting for me at the entrance.” Akira frowned. “Didn’t Ryuji tell you? We got pushed out by reporters. He wanted to show me around.” Morgana, who Akira forgot he had brought with them, stuck his head out of his bag. “Did you get any useful information about Yusuke?” he asked. Ann shook her head. “Not really. All he wanted to talk about was the modeling thing.”

Ryuji arched an eyebrow. “Did you say yes?” he asked. Ann looked at the floor and didn’t say anything. “I… I mean I didn’t want to, but he said something weird.” She then looked up at them with a new look in her eyes, like she had remembered something important. “Kitagawa-kun said something odd when I was looking at a certain painting. I thought it was nice, but he kept trying to distract me and pull me away from it.” Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, confused. Where was she going with this…?

“He sounded really upset that I liked the painting.” She frowned at them and uncrossed her arms. “You know, the painting that was made by his teacher that he admires so much? And remember the-” Akira suddenly interrupted her, having put the pieces together in his head. “The accusations of plagiarism! Why would he be so angry about this painting unless he painted it himself, and-” 

“Madarame stole it and put his own name on it!” Ryuji finished for him. Ann nodded fervently. “Exactly! I wanted to know more, so I took the modeling offer.” She suddenly sounded uncomfortable again. “He asked me to come to his house tomorrow. I said yes, but…” She trailed off and didn’t say anything else. “Do you want us to come with you?” Akira asked. “In case he does something weird or creepy, I mean.” Ann nodded. “You’d do that? Thanks!” 

\---

May 15th, 2016 18:32

Ryuji: Oh yeah, I just remembered somethin’!

Akira: what

Ryuji: Remember our conversation from earlier? I never told ya my birthday! 

Ryuji: It’s July 3rd!

Akira: thanks haha

Akira: i’ll be sure to remember it

Ryuji: Aww, thanks! See ya tomorrow!

Akira: you too

\---

The next day after school, Akira, Ann and Ryuji followed the directions that Yusuke had given Ann to Madarame’s house. “Phantom Thieves travelin’ by train,” Ryuji complained as they took their seats. “This ain’t any different from how I get home from school, y’know.” Ann just shrugged. “This is the fastest way to go. Plus, we can bring pets on here!” Morgana suddenly poked his head out of Akira’s bag and glared at her. “Hey, who are you callin’ a pet?!”

Akira gasped and pushed Morgana back in the bag. “Shut up!” he hissed. “We didn’t pay the pet fare!” Despite his efforts, the cat pushed his head back out. “Excuse me! I’m the one guiding you to your destination!” he said haughtily. “ _You_ should be calling me ‘Master’!” 

Suddenly, a small girl wearing an orange coat walked up to them. “Ooh, a kitty!” she exclaimed happily. “ _ Shit!”  _ Akira whispered. The little girl didn’t hear him. “Is that your pet, mister? I heard it meowing!” He quickly racked his brain for an excuse while trying to zip up the bag. “It’s, uh, a stuffed animal,” he lied. “It meows when you press on its head.” Ryuji, apparently embarrassed to be with someone carrying a stuffed animal, nodded and grinned down at the little girl. “Yeah! We’re uh, takin’ it to a birthday party!”

The little girl looked even more excited. “Ooh, can I see?” she asked. Ann and Ryuji looked at Akira expectantly, who felt his face go red. He looked down at Morgana, who stayed completely still, obviously trying to go along with the stuffed animal act. Akira quickly went over the few options that he had; he couldn’t  _ not  _ make Morgana meow for the little girl, but how should he do it? Press his head lightly (what if he didn’t feel it and didn’t meow?), push firmly, or…

_ Time to button mash. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! another chapter!
> 
> sorry this one is shorter than usual. i wanted to publish something before i stop writing for a few days because i preordered the deluxe version of strikers so you probably won't see another chapter until after i finish the game, which could take a while since i got the switch version. so, that being said, enjoy my little personal hc that akiras birthday is 11/20. setting up for some serious angst when i eventually get there ;-)
> 
> if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! thanks for reading and i'll see you at the next chapter!!


	27. Rumor Has It

_ “MEOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!” _

Akira pushed and pushed until Morgana had stopped meowing and let him zip up the bag. “See?” he said to the little girl. “Meows when you press on its head.” The girl smiled widely. “That was great!” she squealed. “Thank you, mister!” With that, she turned around and went back to her seat, leaving a very stunned Ryuji and Ann behind.

“W-what WAS that?!” Ryuji spluttered. Akira shrugged. “Pressing on his head to make him talk. That  _ is  _ what that girl wanted to see, right?” Ann opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when the train began to slow down and a pleasant female voice rang over the speakers to announce where they were stopping. “The next stop is Shibuya. Shibuya. Doors will open on the left side.” As the train slowed to a stop, Akira stood up and shouldered his bag, feeling Morgana moving around inside. “Come on,” he said, looking at Ann and Ryuji. “Don’t want to keep Kitagawa waiting, do we?”

  
  


\---

May 14th, 2016 15:42

Mishima: Hey, Kurusu.

Akira: what’s up

Mishima: I saw some comments on the Phan-Site that I thought were interesting.

Mishima: You remember it, right?

Akira: yes

Mishima: Okay, good! Anyways, the comments were talking about a potential next target. Apparently, they couldn’t say the name, because it would cause lots of controversy, but it’s related to a famous Japanese-style painter who is _supposedly_ abusing his pupils and plagiarizing their work.

Mishima: Sound familiar?

Akira: very.

Mishima: Cool! I’ll send you to the link to the comments!

Akira: great, thanks

\---

  
  


The house that they arrived at per Ann’s instructions was not what they were expecting.

It looked like touching it would make it collapse. Madarame had been right when he was talking to those reporters; it really was a dingy, shitty-looking shack, and Akira wondered how it was still standing. Ryuji seemed to have the same idea, because he broke the silence with exactly what was on Akira’s mind.

“That old bastard lives  _ here? _ ”

Ann nodded and looked down at her phone, then back up at the house. “Yep, those were the directions Kitagawa-kun gave me. And look,” she lifted a finger and pointed at the door, “It says Madarame on the plate above the buzzer.” They looked at each other hesitantly, then walked towards it. Nobody did anything for a moment until Akira nudged Ann’s arm and gestured at the buzzer. She let out a tiny gasp, then stepped forward and pushed it. Immediately, they heard Yusuke’s voice coming out of it.

“I am sorry, but Sensei is out today on business. Please come back anoth-” 

“Kitagawa-kun, it’s me! Takamaki from th-”

“I’ll be right there!”

Suddenly, Akira heard the sound of scrambling footsteps running down a set of stairs, and before he could react, the door slid open, and he came face to face with Yusuke himself. He looked pleased to see Ann, but his face suddenly changed to annoyance when he saw Akira and Ryuji next to her. “Takamaki-sa-, oh, you’re here as well.” He straightened himself and leaned against the doorway causally. “I didn’t invite you two.”

Akira rolled his eyes. “Nice to see you too,” he snapped. “Listen, we’re not here about the modeling job. We’ve got a question for you.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the link to the comments on Mishima’s website. He had looked at them on the train and shown them to Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana, and they agreed that the comments were more proof to help them with the case against Madarame. “Are these rumors familiar to you?” Akira asked as he showed his phone screen to Yusuke.

The blue-haired boy’s face changed from annoyed, then to intrigued, then to their surprise, indignation. Then, shocking them even more, he began to laugh.

“Hahahahaha! You’d really believe rubbish from the internet?!” The three of them took a step back from Yusuke, who was now laughing as if Akira had just told him the funniest joke in the world. “I find it insulting that you expect me to believe such rumors about Madarame-sensei! Plagiarism!? Abuse?! Never! If he truly detested children as much as you claim, then why would he ever allow students to live with him?! I am the only student currently residing with Madarame. I say there is no abuse taking place. Therefore, there is no abuse. And plagiarism?! Have you all lost your minds?!”

Ryuji suddenly interrupted Yusuke’s tangent by pushing past Akira and pointing in Yusuke’s face. “You could be lyin’ to us, y’know!” he shot back. “Who’s to say you ain’t coverin’ shit up for your sensei?!” Yusuke’s face suddenly turned red with anger, which prompted Akira to grab Ryuji by the arm and pull him back in case Yusuke tried to start a fight (although he definitely didn’t seem like the fighting type, his limbs looked thinner than toothpicks). “Are you sure there’s nothing going on?” Akira asked sharply as he loosened his grip on Ryuji’s arm. “If you want to say something, now’s your chance!” 

Yusuke simply shook his head. “You’re wasting your time. Do you not have better things to do than meddle in an adult’s private affairs?” He took a deep breath and leaned against the doorway again (seriously, how was the house not collapsing?). “If you’re only here to start an argument, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” His voice had a tone of finality in it, but before Akira could turn around and leave, he heard more footsteps approaching from inside the house. 

“Yusuke. What’s wrong? I rarely hear you shout.”

The new voice was accompanied by long, worn-out robes, white hair, and a sense of familiarity. As its owner came closer into view (the inside of the shack was quite dark), Akira had to hold back a gasp when he saw who it was.

It was Madarame.

Yusuke could not have looked more shocked if he tried. “S-sensei!” he stuttered, standing up straight. “What are you doing here?!” Madarame chuckled. “I heard a commotion. What’s going on here?” He looked at Akira, Ann, and Ryuji, frowned, then looked back at Yusuke. “Sensei, please, these people are slandering you!” he said quickly. “I was merely def-”

“Oh, Yusuke, please forgive them,” Madarame said kindly. “I can only guess that they heard some… unfortunate rumors and came along with their friend out of concern for her safety. After all, I doubt an old geezer like me can be liked by everyone.” He turned around to go back inside, but stopped to say one last thing. “I apologize for the interruption, but there are neighbors to consider. Please, could I ask you to keep things civil?” With that, he gave a short bow, then went back up the stairs, the creaks echoing through the hall and out into the warm spring air.

It was silent for a moment, save for the chirping of the birds and the sounds of the city around them. Yusuke took a deep breath and looked at the ground. “I apologize for my outburst,” he said quietly. “Unfortunately, I must assist Sensei right now. Takamaki-san,” he looked up at Ann, who blushed, “If you are still interested in the modeling opportunity, I would be happy to know when you’d like to come back. Until then,” he began sliding the door shut, “Goodbye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back. i'm not going to talk about my strikers experience (if you want to hear me talk about it my tumblr url is the same as my username here), because that's not what this fic is about.
> 
> yusuke is a really fun character to write. i like him and his weirdness a lot lol  
> also, in this house we love and respect yuuki mishima.
> 
> if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i hope to see you next chapter!


	28. Vanity

Akira stretched his arms and yawned as he turned around to leave. “What a waste of time,” he scoffed as he led the way back to the station. “Are we ever gonna find out more about that old bastard?”

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno,” he replied. “That place really was a shack, though! I can’t believe that Madarame really lives there. Looked like it’d implode if ya t-”

_ “Candidate found.” _

Akira’s phone suddenly buzzed from inside his pocket as the smooth, unmistakable voice of the Metaverse Navigator came out of it. They all suddenly stopped walking at the sound of it, Morgana poking his head out of Akira’s bag to take a look. “What was that?” he asked curiously. “It sounded like the Meta-Nav!” Ann crossed her arms doubtfully. “Was it listening to our conversation?” she asked. “That’s creepy!” He shrugged and turned on the phone. The Meta-Nav had indeed opened seemingly on its own. “I guess so.”

The keywords “Madarame” and “Shack” were there on the screen clear as day. “Well, now we know he has a Palace,” Morgana said from over Akira’s shoulder. “Now we just need to find out “what” the shack is to him, like how Kamoshida thought that the school was his castle.” Ann and Ryuji looked at him blankly while Akira stared at his phone. “Uh, so, whaddya want me to say?” he heard Ryuji ask. “Just anything?” Akira felt himself starting to understand. It was like a guessing game. “I’ll start,” he suggested. “It’s probably not a castle.”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“Dammit! How about school?”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“What kind of a dumbass guess is that? Dungeon!”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“Prison?”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“Warehouse?”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“What kind of idiot would view their house as a warehouse?”

Akira racked his brain hard for ideas as Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana bickered with each other. Madarame obviously was heavily focused on his art, and it was probably the source of his distortion, along with his house. A building dedicated almost entirely to art. Akira wasn’t too familiar with places like that; he didn’t have many memories related to going to art supply stores or painting or going to museums- Wait, that could be it! 

“A museum?”

“ _ Candidate found.” _

\---

When the distortion and warping slowed to a halt, Akira was greeted with a far different sight than what he originally expected. He had pictured a modest, modern-looking building surrounded by a cityscape, and while that was indeed what he saw, it was definitely unlike any museum he had ever seen. What stood in place of the run-down shack was now a huge building, mostly a deep blue but covered in shimmering golden signs that read “MUSEUM OF THE GREAT ARTIST MADARAME”.

“It’s… horrible.”

Akira didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like he was supposed to be nice, and the glimmering gold hurt his eyes. “You can say that again,” came Ann’s voice from behind him. “Looks like the dictionary definition of the word ‘garish’.” Akira took a few steps closer to the building and noticed something odd- a large crowd of people standing in front of the entrance. Were they Shadows? “Hey, look at this,” he said, pointing at them, starting to finger his knife carefully in case he was right. “Do you think those are Shadows?”

Morgana shook his head. “Good guess, Joker. They can’t hurt us-- they’re only cognitions.” Akira felt himself feeling slightly disappointed-- he had been itching for another fight ever since he and the others had defeated Nakanohara’s Shadow in Mementos. Something about rushing towards the enemies and striking over and over again until they dissolved into purple smoke, landing headshots on them with his shiny pistol, using his Persona to hit their weak spots… it felt freeing, in a weird sort of way. Sure, he used to get into fights at school in his hometown, but destroying monsters in an alternate reality using powers fueled by his own anger-- sure, it sounded edgy on paper, but it was a great feeling. However, he wouldn’t be able to feel that until they found actual Shadows, and they’d need to get into the museum for that.

“We’ll ignore them, then,” he said dismissively. “For now, we need to find a way to get inside so we can find out why this crazy place exists at all.” 

\---

Even though the crowd at the entrance was technically harmless, Akira still found a path through the garden and an open ceiling panel. They landed in a dark exhibit room that was empty except for some very large paintings on the walls and some stiff-looking couches arranged neatly along the middle. “Where are we?” Ann whispered when she landed from the open panel. Akira looked around carefully for traps-- they were in a museum after all, and a Palace modeled after a public place definitely would have defense mechanisms in case of intruders. “I’d say we’re in some special exhibit room, but it’s hard to tell.” 

Akira felt Ryuji standing close to him, making him sweat a little bit.  _ Why is he standing so close?!  _ He desperately hoped that the blond would keep his mouth shut this time-- he liked hearing Ryuji talk, but anything louder than a whisper would certainly get them caught. “D’you wanna get goin’?” he whispered in Akira’s ear. He nodded in response. “Just be careful. There might be traps, and I’d hate myself if you guys got hurt.” 

He tiptoed carefully towards the archway that separated the room they were in from the next, stopping and holding his arms out to stop the others when he noticed something-- a trip wire. “Stop!” he hissed. “I was right. Look.” He pointed at the trip wire, which was set up at about waist length. “We have to go under.” Akira slid under it first, in case there was a Shadow waiting for them on the other side, but found himself alone in the much larger exhibit room. “It’s clear!” he whispered. “You can come over-” Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana all immediately tried to slide under it the same way he did-- “ _ but not at the same time, dammit!”  _

His worst fear had come true: all three of them trying to slide under the wire had tripped it, causing the eerie silence of the museum to be replaced with the unmistakable screeching of an alarm, and Akira immediately spun around to try to see which way he should run, hoping the others would follow, but it was too late. Shadows dressed like security guards, complete with flashlights and night sticks began springing out of the carpeted ground in puffs of red and black smoke, and Akira immediately took out his pistol and knife. They were surrounded-- it looked like he was getting the fight he wanted after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooooo a new chapter!!!!
> 
> i really don't have much to say for this one. how is everyone enjoying strikers? i probably won't publish anything about it for another month or so because i want to wait until more people have had a chance to play it. obviously i'll tag spoilers, though, so don't worry about that. anyways, we're in the museum! more little pegoryu moments here-- they're so fun to write hehe
> 
> thanks for reading! if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! i hope to see you next chapter! <3


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